目前，使用木枕多的美国正在试用一种塑料轨枕。这种采用回收的聚乙烯制造的塑料轨枕的耐腐蚀性高于木枕三倍以上，而且在加工时更容易使其表面变“毛”，安装在路基上不会滑动。第三个优点是安装方便，可以直接使用与木枕相同的设备和紧固件。当然，塑料轨枕目前的成本要大于木枕，一旦成本降下来，将会迅速推而广之。
轨枕因应用范围不同，长度也不同。在我国，普通轨枕长度为2.5m，道岔用的岔枕和钢桥上用的桥枕，长度有2.6~4.85m多种。每公里线路上铺设轨枕的数量是根据铁路运量和行车速度等运营条件来确定的，一般而言，在1520~1840根之间。不言而喻，轨枕数量越多，轨道强度越大。
Currently, a plastic sleeper is being tested in the United States, where wooden sleepers are used. The plastic sleepers, made of recycled polyethylene, are more than three times more resistant to corrosion than wooden sleepers, and are more likely to be "hairy" in processing, so they do not slip on the roadbed. The third advantage is that it is easy to install and can be used directly with the same equipment and fasteners as the wooden pillow. Of course, the current cost of plastic sleepers is greater than wooden ones, and once the cost falls, it will be spread quickly.
Sleeper due to different application range, length is also different. In China, the length of common track pillow is 2.5m, and there are more than 2.6m ~4.85m kinds of bridge pillows for turnout and steel bridge. The number of sleepers laid on each kilometer of the line is determined by operating conditions such as railway traffic volume and speed, generally speaking, between 1,520 andt goes without saying that the more sleeper, the stronger the track.
