The purpose of this study is to review and improve the methods of predicting strength and fatigue life of I-beam with wheel loads on the bottom flange. The finite element analysis of the stress state of the bottom flange was conducted on models with various geometrical parameters and different types of loading. The study shows that the existing methods of local stress calculation induce significant errors. New equations have been suggested to determine parameters of local stress state that correspond more accurately to the results of numeric analysis. Fatigue assessment methods for I-beam with wheel loads on the bottom flange have been presented.