Summary Vertical dynamic behaviour of a railway track on an elastic halfspace or on a layered halfspace is investigated by a frequency domain analysis. The results are compared with those for a simpler model, where ballast and subgrade are considered as a viscoelastic foundation. In the low- and medium-frequency range up to 250 Hz, great differences are observed between the results of the halfspace model and the results of the viscoelastic foundation model. This is because the damping due to wave propagation and coupling between sleepers cannot be modelled correctly by a viscoelastic foundation. Contradictions observed in the past between measured and calculated results can be explained with the new halfspace model. For frequencies higher than 250 Hz, the influence of the subgrade is negligible, so that here the simpler viscoelastic foundation model can be used.