The free vibration and transient wave in a prestressed Rayleigh-Timoshenko beam subject to arbitrary transverse forces are analyzed by the newly developed method of reverberation-ray matrix (MRRM). The effects of shear deformation and rotational inertia are taken into consideration. With a Fourier transform technique, the general wave solutions with two sets of unknown amplitude coefficients are obtained in the transformed domain for an unbonded prestressed beam under the action of arbitrary external excitations. From the coupling at joints and the compatibility of displacements in each member, the free and forced vibration responses of a beam with various boundary conditions are finally evaluated through certain numerical algorithms. Results are presented for a simply-supported beam subject to either a point fixed load or moving load. Good agreement with the finite element method (FEM) is obtained. The present work is instructive for high-speed railway bridge design and structural health monitoring. The free vibration and transient wave in a prestressed Rayleigh-Timoshenko beam subject is analyzed by the newly developed method of reverberation-ray matrix (MRRM). The effects of shear deformation and rotational inertia are taken into consideration. With a Fourier transform technique, the general wave solutions with two sets of unknown amplitude coefficients are obtained in the transformed domain for an unbonded prestressed beam under the action of arbitrary external excitations. From the coupling at joints and the compatibility of displacements in each member, the free and forced vibration responses of a beam with various boundary conditions are finally implemented through certain numerical algorithms. Results are presented for a simply-supported beam subject to either a point fixed load or moving load. The present work is instructive for high-speed railway bridge design and structural hea lth monitoring.