The motion of trains induces various dynamic effects on tracks. Vehicles moving with high speed generate waves, which propagate both to the track and the ground influencing the traction of the train significantly, whereas metro carriages often cause perturbing vibrations to adjacent buildings and inadmissible noise. In both cases specific designs for rail track systems are required in order to minimize the mentioned effects. In this paper a design model is derived, which allows the determination of the dynamic response in different rail track systems due to a load moving with constant speed. The pavement and the rail are modeled as an infinite flexible beam resting on continuous spring-dashpot elements simulating ideal high-speed rail tracks. The solution is found by transfer functions consisting of series approximation. Furthermore, a model is proposed comprising an additional bedding of continuous springs between the flexible beam and the spring-dashpot elements. Therewith, innovative tracks with additional synthetic track pads for metro lines can be simulated in order to investigate vibration effects and wave propagation caused by the vehicle. Properties of spring-dashpot elements simulating the bedding of the layered subgrade structure are calculated from a dynamic cone model. The results of large scale in situ tests involving speeds up to 230 km/h carried out on high-speed rail tracks are presented as well as experiments on test tracks for the Vienna metro line.