The results of an environmental LCA carried out on railway sleepers made of prestressed concrete, sectional steel and creosote impregnated beech as used on main lines of Switzerland's railways are presented. All extractions from and insertions into the environment which were connected with the manufacture, use and disposal of the different types of sleeper were inventoried and assessed, in accordance with ISO 14040 guidelines. Included in the analysis were the sleepers themselves, the auxiliary materials and a part of the impacts caused by the construction work plus the maintenance of the track bed including the resulting transports. Creosote impregnated beech wood sleepers exhibit unfavourable ecological characteristics in practically all impact categories. When compared with concrete and steel sleepers, in particular the shorter servicelife but also emissions from creosote components during usage and the relatively complex rail mounting arrangement have a negative impact on their environmental profile. Several measures for an environmental improvement are discussed and investigated. It is especially important and realistic to reduce the emissions from creosote components during the servicelife of the wooden sleepers. This can be partly achieved by reducing the amount of creosote per sleeper unit. Considerably more effective is the use of creosote WEI type C instead of type B, which has a lower proportion of low boiling and therefore lower volatile components. Employing suitable optimisation measures in particular for lengthening the servicelife, would be an additional step to improve the environmental profile of the beech sleeper.

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