To provide a method and a device for printing on a rail capable of easily carrying out printing the indication of a distance from a fixed point on the side face of a railway rail in a short period of time by improving a working environment.

The device is mounted with a printing unit 30 on a front part of a travelling truck 10. The printing unit 30 is mounted with a printing head moving unit 40 on the left side of the traveling direction. The printing head moving unit 40 is provided with a movable part 42 movable to the front-and-rear direction and to the vertical direction and its lower end is mounted with an ink jet type printing head 43. The movable part 42 is moved and controlled by a head moving controller 33 and the printing head 43 is ink-jet controlled by a print head controller 37. The movable part 42 is mounted with a camera 44 for photographing the side face of the railway rail 3 before and during printing, displaying it on a television monitor 17, and confirming a printing position and a printing state.