<p>The construction and operation of high-speed railways in seismic regions are highly vulnerable to the hazards posed by active faults, underscoring the necessity of investigating the impacts of faulting effects on railway embankments. Limited research has focused on the deformation characteristics of embankments subjected to reverse faulting. To address this gap, three-dimensional finite element models were developed to investigate the deformation of a railway embankment crossing a reverse fault, with the modeling methodology validated against centrifuge tests. Parametric studies were performed considering faulting offset, thickness of the overlying soil layer, fault dip angle, and the cross-fault angle of the embankment. The analysis revealed the occurrence of two fault ruptures beneath the embankment. Both the primary and secondary rupture zones that emerged on the embankment surface exhibited compressive yielding. The fault dip angle played a decisive role in controlling the development of secondary rupture and the uplifted zone. The longitudinal slope of the embankment increased with larger faulting offsets, while the affected range expanded with thicker soil layers and shallower dip angles. When a railway embankment must traverse a reverse fault obliquely, an intersection angle close to vertical or less than 40° is recommended.</p>