9th of July 2019 - Can our railways be even more sustainable? And can they be quieter? In the Netherlands there are mainly concrete rail sleepers in use at the moment. However, concrete does not have a good CO2 footprint and is not the best option when it comes to sound reduction. ProRail is now testing four new types of sleepers in an experiment in a track between Zwolle and Heino for 2 years, during which the track will remain operational. One of these 4 sleepers is the recessed version of the KLP® Hybrid Polymer Sleeper from Lankhorst made of 100% recycled plastics and reinforced with steel. In addition to CO2 reduction and sustainable materials, ProRail also focuses on the sustainability aspect of reducing noise and vibration. The first train drove over the test track on Tuesday the 9th of July.

The track between Zwolle and Heino needed maintenance; they now combined it with this experiment. The old timber sleepers have been removed from the rail bed. They used to be treated with creosote oil previously, but this has been banned because it is a toxic substance. The disadvantage of it is that wood now decays much faster.

The sleepers were chosen after a careful selection process and meet the safety criteria. Various plastic sleepers were included in the test, but there is also one sleeper made of concrete but without cement. The sleepers are intensively inspected for two years to measure amongst others how much noise and vibrations they produce. In the long term, ProRail wants to place sensors on the sleepers to collect much more data. Lankhorst has already installed sensors on the KLP® Hybrid Polymer Sleepers to be able to perform further analyzes themselves.

The participating manufacturers have supplied their sleepers free of charge for the ProRail experiment, with further funding provided by the Dutch government. The ultimate goal of the test track is to find sustainable sleepers that can be used by contractors as an alternative to the standard concrete sleepers in the Dutch railways.