The objective of this paper is to ascertain the wheel–rail low adhesion mechanism using a high-speed wheel–rail rolling contact test rig under different interfacial contaminations. Based on the experimental results, a numerical method was proposed to investigate the wheel–rail wear and rolling contact fatigue due to low adhesion issues. The experimental results indicated that the wheel–rail low adhesion phenomena can happen under interfacial liquid contaminations, especially at high-speed running condition. Preliminary numerical investigations showed that the low adhesion condition can easily lead to sliding hence serious wear, especially at the speed between 160 km/h and 200 km/h. The temperature rise within the contact patch can be significantly more severe once wheel and rail are in full slip, causing rolling contact fatigue due to material softening.
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