Abstract: With the rapid development of rail passenger car industry, great progress has been made in vehicle materials and connection technology. The large-scale use of metal materials such as weatherproof steel, stainless steel and aluminum alloy has promoted the wide application of welding methods that arc welding, resistance welding and friction stir welding were represented and the automation rate of welding has been constantly improved to better ensure the quality of products. In this paper, the present situation, development prospect and service environment challenge of rail bus industry were briefly described, and the development course of vehicle application materials was summarized. The continuous application of new materials such as light alloy materials with higher strength and better performance, fiber reinforced composite materials for future use and their excellent comprehensive service performance in the field of promoting rail cars was analyzed. At the same time, some advanced connection technologies such as laser welding, laser-arc composite welding, self-punching friction riveting and green quality bonding,were prospected to solve the future prospect of new material connection technology. The development direction and research focus of lightweight materials and connection technology for rail passenger cars were put forward.