In order to optimize properties and performance of railroad rails it is necessary to control the residual stress states inside the rail. Therefore a capable method for residual stress characterization is required. As an application of strain gauges, which is the industrial standard, does not provide this option. This thesis provides an overview of modern experimental methods of residual stress characterization in rails and evaluates the feasibility, accuracy, laboriousness and costs for the use of the individual techniques. The core criterion is the ability to determine the longitudinal residual stresses. The transverse/oblique slicing (T/O-S) technique, the neutron diffraction characterization and the contour method are identified as three approaches with the greatest potential to substitute the strain gauge technique. Within the experimental part, test measurements on straightened and unstraightened rails were performed. The application of the T/O-S technique indicated that the approach has some limitations and thus cannot be used to reconstruct the original three dimensional residual stress fields in this case. The measurements with neutrons were time consuming but best suited to obtain benchmarks for the residual stresses inside the rail. The contour method provided an easy way to map the longitudinal stresses across the entire cross section. Both contour and neutron techniques show similar trends and are in good accordance with the strain gauge measurements.