The invention discloses a method for optimizing GSM-R network cross-zone switching. According to the thread coverage characteristic of a railway GSM-R network, under a situation only single network coverage is considered, adjacent districts only have two, that is, a front one and a back one, if the motion direction of a train is affirmed, a switching target district can be determined, thus simplifying a target district list. The invention puts forward a method for determining the motion direction of the train, namely, a BSC switching recording statistical method, which refers to that the previous switching of one special user at the BSC is tracked, the target districts switched orderly by the user in previous N (N is more than and equal to 3) times switching are recorded, and the motion direction of the train is judged according to the order list of districts which are stored in the coverage area of the BSC and follow the network direction. Therefore, a newly obtained switching adjacent district list can simplify switching process, shortening switching time, improving switching reliability, solving the toggle switching problem of districts within the network, and meanwhile avoiding the phenomenon of backward switching.