Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) has published regular rating «QS University Rankings: Eastern Europe and Central Asia» (QS EECA 2020). The rating includes 350 universities from all over the world, including 105 best Russian universities.

Emperor Alexander I St. Petersburg State Transport University has been included in this ranking since 2018. In QS EECA 2020 PGUPS holds the position 251 — 300.

QS annually publishes lists of the best higher educational institutions worldwide, as well as individual states and economic regions. QS rankings are recognized as one of the most influential in the world, along with Academic Ranking of World Universities and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

In total 10 criteria are evaluated: academic reputation, reputation among employers, the ratio of academic staff to students, the number of publications per employee, international scientific relations, university on-line presence, the number of employees with PhD degrees, the number of citations per article, the quantity of foreign employees and foreign students. Each criteria contributes to the overall evaluation of the university. The results of the ranking can be sorted for this 10 indicators to compare universities.