Railways are the primary mode of public transport around the world and play a pivoting role in the day-to-day transportation needs of commuters. Hence, an improved railway track infrastructure demands high-quality control. Excessive settlement in rail tracks is a common failure phenomenon incurring an extra maintenance cost. Installation of railway tracks on soft grounds is a daunting task for any railway engineer. Inefficient drainage results in storage of impregnated water beneath the railway tracks. Consequently, under repeated wagon loading results in a phenomenon known as mud pumping. The present paper mainly reviews the role of geosynthetics to mitigate the mud pumping, thereby controlling the excessive settlement and degradation of the track geometry. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021.