This article presents vibration control performances of a semi-active railway vehicle suspension system using a magneto-rheological damper tested on the roller rig. In order to evaluate control performances, a mathematical railway vehicle model with 15 degrees of freedom is first derived to represent the lateral, yaw and roll motions of the car body, bogie frame, and wheel set, respectively. Based on the formulated model, the design parameters of magneto-rheological damper are determined to undertake a compatible comparison with dynamic performances of conventional (existing) passive railway vehicle suspension system. The designed magneto-rheological damper is manufactured and its field-dependent damping force characteristics are experimentally evaluated. Subsequently, in order to enhance the ride quality of a railway vehicle suspension equipped with magneto-rheological damper, a skyhook controller associated with an extended Kalman filter is designed in a state space representation. The railway suspension system incorporated with the car body and two bogies is then experimentally set up on the roller rig in order to evaluate the ride quality. It is demonstrated from experimental realization of the controller that the ride quality of the suspension system with magneto-rheological damper can be significantly enhanced compared with the existing passive suspension system.