The dynamic performance of a ballasted track and three types of slab track is analysed and compared by means of a comprehensive dynamic model of the train–track system, generated using two commercial analysis software packages: the commercial multibody system (MBS) analysis software SIMPACK and the finite element method (FEM) analysis software NASTRAN. The use of a commercial MBS software makes it possible to include, in a reliable way, models of advanced non-linear wheel–rail contact as well as complex elements or joints in the vehicle model, while the FEM the flexibility of the rail and the slab to be taken into account. As a result, a combined MBS–FEM representation of the vehicle–track model is integrated into the MBS software, which allows for the study of dynamic phenomena in a wide frequency range. In this study, other simpler approaches for modelling the dynamic vehicle–track interaction are also considered, such as pure multibody or FE representations of the whole vehicle–track system. The quality of the results obtained with the different types of models used is analysed, and some conclusions are put forth regarding the possible validity of rather simple train–track interaction model types under certain conditions as well as the most suitable configuration of the most complex models.

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