BRAKE CONTROL DEVICE AND BRAKE CONTROL METHOD

In a railway vehicle, a brake control device controlling a first brake device that presses a friction material against a wheel and a second brake device not using the friction material includes: a wheel load estimation unit estimating a wheel load-based on a wheel speed and a brake force applied to the wheel by the friction material; a friction surface state quantity estimation unit estimating a current friction coefficient of the friction material from a state of a friction surface thereof based on the wheel load, the wheel speed, and a brake force command, and outputting a mirror-surfacing signal indicating the friction surface is in a mirror-surfaced state when the friction coefficient is less than a first threshold value; and a brake control unit controlling operations of the first and second brake devices based on the brake force command and presence or absence of the mirror-surfacing signal.