Abstract Resonance is a phenomenon of utmost importance in railways engineering, leading to vast damages both in track and vehicles. A short-span bridge has been modeled by means of a finite elements method model, calibrated and validated with real data, to study resonance vibrations induced by the passage of trains. Furthermore, the influence of vehicle speed and track damping on the vibrations registered on the rail, the sleeper and the bridge has been assessed. Different track and vehicle pathologies have been proposed and their effect on the resonance of the bridge has been evaluated.