Purpose. To ensure the constantly growing volume of freight transportations it is necessary to introduce the innovation rolling stock. It should have the best technical and economic parameters in comparison with the existing fleet. Gondola car is the most popular type of railway freight car. Designs of the modern gondolas are based on many years of operating experience and numerous tests carried out by design and research organizations in the field of car building. To improve the body structure of gondolas it is necessary to perform a review of the existing structures and to identify the trends in their improvement. Methodology. The works on improvement the designs of produced gondolas are held by many engineering organizations in almost all industrialized countries. Analysis of the existing body designs of gondola cars is possible by analyzing the research in the field of transport engineering, namely patents, scientific articles, producers catalogues and so on. Findings. When analyzing it was determined that there are gondolas of different designs, but the most common are the gondolas with a solid floor and unloading hatches, the covers of which form the floor of gondola design. An effective method for reducing the gondola empty weight and increasing the body volume is also the use of aluminum alloy instead of steel. Results of the improvement analysis of the gondola bodies` designs showed that the creation of the modern gondola car requires from designers and scientists the implementation of scientific and technical solutions providing the increase of carrying capacity and the body volume, reduction of the gondolas empty weight, increase in repair intervals while improving the strength and dynamic qualities at the same time. Originality. For the first time the gondolas designs were analyzed, their advantages and disadvantages were considered and the trends in improvement of the given structures of gondola cars were determined. Practical value. The generalization of theoretical, scientific and methodological, experimental studies aimed at further improving the technical and economic parameters of gondola cars are urgent when improving the body structure of the gondola cars. The above mentioned design features of the bodies of some models of modern gondola cars have practical value and can be used in further developments.