Therolling/slidingwearperformanceofseveralcarbide-freehighsiliconbainiticsteels wasinvestigatedinthecontextofrailapplications, alongwithdetailedmicrostructuralcharacterization.Theresultsindicatethatharder materialsexhibitedlowerwearratesandthepresences ofinclusionsandallotriomorphicferriteinthemicrostructuresweredetrimentaltothe wearperformance.Thewearresistanceofsomeof theexperimentalmaterialswascomparabletothatofthepearliticstee l