PURPOSE: To accomplish greater braking as compared with the well-known eddy current rail brake magnets and improve efficiency.

CONSTITUTION: The eddy current rail brake magnet 1 is for rail vehicles. Its magnetic pole face 12 is opposite to the upper face 4 of rails with an air gap 14 in-between when in running state, and is provided with such polarity that it is rigid in the vertical direction of the rails and in the horizontal direction of the rails and alternates in the vertical direction of the rails. The magnetic pole face has a lateral contour 13 at least almost corresponding to the contour 5 of the upper face of the rails, perpendicularly above the upper face of the rails.