In the broadest sense, the braking system must be able to reduce the travel speed to a desired speed or to stop under any circumstances. The efficiency and performance of the entire braking process depend on a number of factors such as: the construction variant, the friction temperature, the variation of the friction coefficient with the force of thrust and temperature, the materials, the braking squeal, the wear and the particles resulting from the process. This paper is a review of brake parameters and an analysis of the main problems related to the current braking systems.