Rail grinding with abrasive belt is increasingly applied in daily rail maintenance due to its high efficiency and high quality. The contact between rail and abrasive belt largely determines grinding efficiency and grinding quality, but the influences of grinding process and contact wheel's parameters on the contact behaviour are obscure. To explore the influences, a finite element model of the wheelrail contact was established. The simulation results showed that the grinding angle significantly affected the shape of contact spot. The contact spot gradually became narrower as the grinding angle increased. Similarly, the reduction of the contact wheel radius significantly increased the contact stress. But when the ratio of the thickness of rubber layer to wheel radius increased above 60 %, it had little effect on the size of contact spot and maximum contact stress. This study provides the basis for the selection of grinding process and contact wheel's parameters. In the actual grinding process, grinding process and contact wheel should be selected according to grinding requirements.