A method is described for operation of a magnetic levitation railway which contains vehicles with a plurality of supporting magnets (20a . . . 20j) and supporting runners (26) associated with them. In the event of a malfunction, the braking of the vehicle with the drive and braking systems switched off is brought about or assisted until a preselected destination stopping point is reached solely in that, even before the destination stopping point is reached, at least one of the supporting magnets (for example 20f, 20g) is switched off, and the magnetic levitation vehicle is placed on the track path (3) by means of the associated supporting runner (26), and is brought to rest at the destination stopping point by making use of the friction forces that occur as a result. The invention also relates to a magnetic levitation vehicle operated in this way.