Railway sleepers are a critical but often overlooked infrastructure component — supporting rail, maintaining gauge, and distributing train loads into the ballast for the entire service life of the track. Traditional timber sleepers decay, split, and leach chemicals into the environment, requiring cyclical replacement that disrupts operations and drives ongoing cost.
WireCo, through Lankhorst Engineered Products, manufactures recycled plastic railway sleepers that eliminate the maintenance and environmental liabilities of timber — while matching or exceeding its structural performance. Lankhorst Engineered Products sleepers are made from post-consumer and post-industrial recycled plastic waste, transforming a disposal problem into a 50+ year infrastructure asset.
Installed on mainline railways, metro systems, and industrial rail networks across Europe and beyond, Lankhorst Engineered Products sleepers are approved by major rail authorities and backed by decades of in-track performance data.
The problems WireCo products are engineered to solve.
Heavy-haul and high-speed rail create dynamic impact loads that exceed static design values by 2–3x. Sleepers must absorb these loads without cracking or deformation.
Sleepers in tunnels, bridges, and coastal environments face chemical attack, moisture, and temperature extremes that destroy timber within years.
Recycled plastic sleepers must be compatible with standard rail fastening systems, tamping equipment, and maintenance procedures used by railway operators.
National railway authorities require extensive testing programmes including fatigue, creep, and environmental qualification before approving alternative sleeper materials.
Lankhorst Engineered Products railway sleepers are manufactured from recycled plastic using a proprietary process that produces a dense, homogeneous material immune to rot, insect attack, and moisture absorption. With a design life exceeding 50 years and zero maintenance requirements, they eliminate the cyclical replacement costs of timber.
Lankhorst Engineered Products sleepers are designed as a direct dimensional replacement for standard timber sleepers — compatible with existing rail fastening systems, ballast profiles, and installation equipment. Rail operators can replace timber sleepers with recycled plastic on a like-for-like basis without track redesign or specialized tooling.
Each Lankhorst Engineered Products sleeper diverts approximately 60 kg of recycled plastic from landfill. The product contains no hazardous chemicals, produces no leachate, and is itself fully recyclable at end of life. Independent lifecycle assessments confirm a significantly lower carbon footprint compared to both timber and concrete alternatives.
Explore the specific products WireCo manufactures for this industry's applications.
KLP® Hybrid Polymer railway sleepers manufactured from 100% recycled plastic with encased reinforcing steel bars. Designed as a direct dimensional replacement for timber sleepers with a 50+ year maintenance-free service life. Rated for axle loads up to 25 tonnes across narrow, standard, and broad gauge track.
Fibre-reinforced foam urethane (FFU) sleepers for switches, crossings, and special trackwork applications. FFU combines the machinability of timber with the durability of synthetic materials, enabling complex geometries for turnouts and S&C layouts that recycled plastic sleepers cannot achieve.
Explore WireCo’s solutions for similar applications.
