Kilometres of plastic in Amsterdam

27 October 2025

When we saw the photo accompanying this article, we couldn’t help but smile: in the foreground, Heatpoint’s plastic cable ducts run neatly alongside the track. But this article isn’t about cable ducts; it’s about plastic sleepers as a sustainable alternative to concrete.

What this article illustrates so well is the rise of plastic in the rail and infrastructure sectors. From sleepers to cable management and other railway components, more and more applications are proving to be, in many respects, on a par with or even better than traditional materials.

To name just a few advantages over traditional concrete: they are much lighter (making transport and installation easier), resistant to chemical attack and corrosion, low-maintenance, and flexible in terms of design and customisation.

Innovation in this sector sometimes takes the form of major breakthroughs, and sometimes of small components. It’s great to see that the focus on sustainable, safe and low-maintenance solutions is growing.