This study revolves around the history, development, and changes leading to the discovery of composite railway sleepers made from recycled materials, further highlighting their significant use in the railway industry. The increasing demand for a more sustainable option in railway transportation gave birth to the discovery of composite railway structures. Although there has been seen great significance in the use of composite railway sleepers due to their recycling capability, the literature review reveals that there are further areas that need further addressing specifically: limited understanding of the use of composite railway sleepers results in low trust in acceptance of its usage and full utilization in the railway industry, perishable material used which has a higher cost in long-term planning due to frequent repair and maintenance, railway sleepers were repurposed but with limited knowledge of the mechanical properties of a used composite railway sleeper, a standard/convention for the ratio of recycled materials to be added to form composite railway sleepers must be proposed, lacks inclusion of carbon emission of the materials used as railway sleepers from preparation to end-of-life stage, higher cost on investment, further research is needed focusing on the mechanical properties of railway sleeper, safety-related concerns on the treatment/handling/disposal of contaminated railway sleepers.