This study aims to establish the practical method for estimating the buckling temperature of continuous welded rails with efficiency based on lateral track irregularities measured by the track inspection cars. From the analytical results of FEM model with the virtual irregularities constituted of sine waves, the authors showed the possibility of estimating the buckling temperature by focusing on the maximum curvature of waves. Then, the authors prepared the restored waves of lateral track irregularities measured by the track inspection car and performed FEM analyses by use of the waves. As a result, the authors showed the efficient method for estimating the buckling temperature from measurement data of inspection car by used of the relative equations.
