Ausbesserungswerk

An Ausbesserungswerk (abbreviation AW or Aw) is a railway facility in German-speaking countries, the primary function of which is the repair (and formerly also the construction) of railway vehicles or their components. It is thus equivalent to a 'repair shop' or 'works'. It is also referred to as a Centralwerkstatt or Zentralwerkstatt (central workshop) or Hauptwerkstatt (main workshop). During the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG) period between the two world wars these facilities were called Reichsbahnausbesserungswerke (RAW) (Reichsbahn repair shops).

Whilst the term Ausbesserungswerk was used by the former Deutsche Bundesbahn in West Germany after the war, the railway workshops in the Deutsche Reichsbahn in East Germany continued to refer to them as Reichsbahnausbesserungswerke until 1992. The term Hauptwerkstatt was also commonly used by state railways (Länderbahn) or private railways and they are still called that today, for example, in Austria. In general the Deutsche Bahn AG (DB AG) today uses the term Werk (works); these facilities belonging to the DB Instandhaltung Gmbh (DB Maintenance Co Ltd).

In contrast to the Bahnbetriebswerke, that are responsible for routine, everyday tasks, Ausbesserungswerke specialise in major repairs, general inspections and the refurbishment of exchangeable components. In addition they handle the conversion and modernisation of vehicles, as well as the construction of new vehicles in some cases. On top of the maintenance of vehicles, most Ausbesserungswerke also carry out the manufacture of turnouts, the construction of signal gantries, platform roofing and similar steel structures. Depending on the particular specialisation of an individual Ausbesserungswerk it may also be described as a Reisezugwagenwerk (coach works), Güterwagenwerk (goods wagon works) or Weichenwerk (turnout works).

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