German manufacturer Vossloh has opened a new factory in Poland, the first Engineered Polymer Sleeper (EPS) production line in the industry. 

The “ultra-modern” plant in Nowe Skalmierzyce has an initial capacity of 100,000 sleepers per year and will use materials that are fully recyclable at the end of their lifecycle. 

Oliver Schuster, executive board chairman of Vossloh, said: “Both the EPS product itself and the ultra-modern production facility are masterpieces by the engineers involved. With our new composite sleeper, we are creating a sustainable and durable alternative to wooden sleepers.” 

The new sleepers have been in development for ten years by Vossloh and are designed to be more sustainable across their production, with the factory in Poland set to use green electricity during production and recover and reuse energy where possible. 

The company also highlighted the growing bans for wooden sleepers around the world thanks to the use of harmful chemicals in their production which can seep out into the environment over time. 

Schuster said: “At Vossloh, we not only enable green mobility, but also do so in a sustainable and responsible manner. I am very confident that this product, with its outstanding product properties and exemplary eco-balance, has a successful future ahead of it.” 

While based in Europe, Vossloh has become a global supplier of its products, signing deals in countries such as Egypt, China, and Norway.