The composite railway tie has performances which are substantially improved over those of ties of the prior art while it results in a saving in weight of metal necessary and in the cost of manufacture.The reinforcement of this tie comprises a lower assembly and an upper assembly each formed by a folded steel wire defining parallel lengths of wire connected by curved portions. The reinforcement also comprises an S-section tie member including a web which is substantially vertical and contained in the vertical plane of symmetry of the tie and two flanges which are roughly horizontal. This tie member may be manufactured on a press or by cold folding relatively cheap flat steel products.