Abstract The first part of the paper includes a brief presentation of a 2.5 D FEM-BEM model, developed by the authors, which is able to lead with problems of vibrations induced by traffic including the train–track dynamic interaction. Then a global description of a test site developed on a stretch of the Portuguese railway network is presented. In that test site, several experiments were performed in order to obtain an appropriate mechanical characterization of the main elements involved in the process of generation and propagation of waves induced by traffic. After the characterization of the ground and the track, the vibrations induced by railway traffic were measured both on the railway track and on the free-field. Finally, some predicted results, obtained by the proposed numerical model, are compared with the measurements. The study performed reports the validation of the model proposed by the authors and, consequently, provides a deep understanding of the influence of several aspects which determine the solution to the problem.