Method for braking electrically driven rail vehicles which are fitted with spring-store-based friction brakes and whose motorized drive is provided by permanently excited synchronous machines, wherein the terminals for the synchronous machine are connected by switches to installations which generate a brake torque, wherein a controller or regulator is activated which activates the braking of the provided motors and the spring-store-based friction brakes individually and successively as a function of the operating conditions of the vehicle and the required braking values, and wherein the required braking values correspond to limit values for the braking deceleration that are predefined by an operator or by standards, characterized in that, - as input variables for controlling/regulating the overall braking power of the vehicle, one or more of the following operating conditions are used with a stored nominal characteristic curve in order for a nominal/actual comparison to be determined: - measurement of the deceleration by suitable sensors; - measurement of the motor currents and calculation by way of a machine model; - measurement of the zero crossings of the motor voltages and determining the deceleration by variance determination; - measurement of the motor or intermediate circuit output; - measurement of the output in braking resistance; - measurement of the rotating speeds; - temperature measurements; - load cycle detection in combination with the detection of air spring pressure; - an actual characteristic curve is formed by means of the detected operating values and compared with a nominal characteristic curve applicable for maintaining the required braking values and in that further motor brakes or spring-store-based friction brakes, respectively, are activated in the event of an nominal/actual deviation in braking, while taking into account a tolerance band; and - an actual characteristic curve formed by the rotating speed of the motors and the acceleration of the vehicle is compared with a nominal characteristic curve stored in a nonvolatile memory, and the braking of the motors or of the spring-store-based friction brakes is activated in the event of a negative nominal/actual deviation. - as input variables for controlling/regulating the overall braking power of the vehicle, one or more of the following operating conditions are used with a stored nominal characteristic curve in order for a nominal/actual comparison to be determined: - measurement of the deceleration by suitable sensors; - measurement of the motor currents and calculation by way of a machine model; - measurement of the zero crossings of the motor voltages and determining the deceleration by variance determination; - measurement of the motor or intermediate circuit output; - measurement of the output in braking resistance; - measurement of the rotating speeds; - temperature measurements; - load cycle detection in combination with the detection of air spring pressure; - an actual characteristic curve is formed by means of the detected operating values and compared with a nominal characteristic curve applicable for maintaining the required braking values and in that further motor brakes or spring-store-based friction brakes, respectively, are activated in the event of an nominal/actual deviation in braking, while taking into account a tolerance band; and - an actual characteristic curve formed by the rotating speed of the motors and the acceleration of the vehicle is compared with a nominal characteristic curve stored in a nonvolatile memory, and the braking of the motors or of the spring-store-based friction brakes is activated in the event of a negative nominal/actual deviation.