A hollow steel railway sleeper has an open top and laterally projecting flanges 13, 14 for supporting rail fasteners and the tongue slide chairs 30 of a set of points. Components of a mechanism for operating the set of points such as moveable latches 34, cam rods 35, shock absorbing elements 38 and drive and monitoring rods 44, 45 can be housed inside the hollow sleeper. Heating rods 43 can also be provided inside the sleeper. The base of the sleeper can be coated with concrete 20 and a cover can be provided to cover the open top of the sleeper. The cross-sectional width 15 and height 16 of the sleeper match those of a standard wooden or concrete sleeper.