A railway vehicle brake operated by changes in pressure in a continuous pipe which is generally kept exhausted of air by a pump and controls similar brakes throughout the train.
 Example sentencesExamples
-  It is the longest car train ever out of East London and will use an airbrake system instead of the normal vacuum brakes.
 -  Electric brakes are most common, although vacuum brakes are seen on large commercial trailers.
 -  The manifold is sealed with a spin-welded end cap (which also serves as a mounting bracket for the vacuum brake booster).
 -  It may be admitted that with the increase in speeds and loads, few railways now use the vacuum brake.
 -  Johanns was thoroughly burnt but managed to stop the train by using a vacuum brake.