Resilient wheels are currently used on light rail systems such as tramways to prevent squealing noise and to reduce impact noise. On the other hand, they are rarely found on main lines (passenger rolling stock and freight rolling stock). Although manufacturers often claim that resilient wheels are favourable for rolling noise control, no extensive theoretical investigation con"rming this statement has been published to date. In this paper, it is shown how resilient wheels can be e!ectively optimised in order to reduce rolling noise emission, compared to a conventional monobloc wheel. A preliminary analysis of the physical phenomena accounting for rolling noise generation emphasizes the key design parameters a!ecting both wheel and radiation. These parameters are the radial dynamic sti!ness and damping loss factor of the rubber layer. The tread mass is also relevant. The in#uence of these design parameters is then quali"ed by a parametric study performed with the TWINS software. An optimum radial dynamic sti!ness of the resilient layer is found which depends on operating conditions. Reductions in overall rolling noise up to 3 dB (A) are calculated for the con"gurations investigated. However, poor selection of the design parameters can lead to a noise increase compared to a standard monobloc wheel. It is also shown that a proper design for rolling noise control will not a!ect wheel e$ciency with regard to squeal noise.