In this study, a standardized finite element model for the carbody structures of various railway vehicles made of sandwich composites was suggested. The standardized finite element model for composite carbody structures was introduced and proposed by comparing the results of real structural tests under vertical, compressive, twisting load and natural frequency tests of various railway vehicles. The results showed that the quadratic shell element was suitable to model the reinforced metal frame used to improve the flexural stiffness of sandwich panels compared to beam elements, and layered shells and solid elements were recommended to model the skin and honeycomb core of sandwich panels compared to sandwich shell elements. Also, the proposed standard finite element model has the merit of being applied to crashworthiness analysis just by minor modifications, such as contact conditions and constraint equations.