Heavy contamination, high operating temperatures and short bath life are costing rail maintenance workshops more than they realise. DST-CHEMICALS has been solving exactly this problem for nearly 40 years. Here is what it looks like in practice.
The Real Cost of Cleaning a Bogie
Ask a workshop manager what their cleaning chemistry costs and they will give you a price per litre. Ask them what their cleaning process costs and the conversation gets more interesting.
In a typical rail maintenance workshop, bogies, wheelsets and driveline components arrive contaminated with oil, grease, brake dust and particulate residues. The standard response is high-temperature washing, frequent bath changes, and a chemical spend that rarely gets scrutinised. The process works. It just works expensively.
At DST-CHEMICALS, we look at the total cost of a cleaning process, not just the product price. Energy consumption, water usage, bath lifetime, wastewater disposal, downtime and workplace safety all carry real costs. When you add them up, the chemistry is rarely the biggest line item. The temperature is.
45% Less Energy. Improved Environmental Impact.
Hamburger Hochbahn AG has operated Hamburg’s subway network for more than 100 years. As a city-owned company in one of Europe’s most sustainability-conscious cities, they take their environmental responsibilities seriously, right down to what happens in the bogie cleaning plant at their Barmbek maintenance workshop.
Bogies and add-ons are regularly degreased, repaired and remounted in the Barmbek workshop. The process long relied on high operating temperatures and consumed significant energy. The goal was clear: find a solution that reduces energy consumption without compromising on cleaning quality.
DST-DEGREEZ/9E, a water-based cleaner, has made it possible to reduce the temperature of the BVL cleaning plant from 60°C to 45°C with the same high-quality result. Team Manager Michael Schnabel from Hamburger Hochbahn AG put it plainly:
Michael Schnabel, Team Manager at Hamburger Hochbahn AG, said:It was important for us to find an energy-saving solution for the degreasing process.
The results speak for themselves. A 15°C temperature reduction delivered energy savings of up to 45%. Water consumption dropped significantly. Bath life extended beyond six months, reducing waste and cutting the frequency of bath changes. Precise additional dosing became possible, reducing evaporation and further improving efficiency. Workplace safety improved, which also resulted in the inspection pass rate improving by up to 37%.
Michael Schnabel, Team Manager at Hamburger Hochbahn AG, said:A temperature reduction of 15°C resulted in significant energy savings of up to 45%! And we have further reduced our water consumption significantly.
Water-Based Chemistry and the Objection That Isn’t
The most common objection we hear is that water-based chemistry cannot handle serious industrial contamination. We have been proving that wrong since 1987, across metalworking, automotive, in general manufacturing and also in rail maintenance.
The key is not simply switching products. It is understanding the specific cleaning process including the contamination profile, the component geometry, the washing equipment and the performance or cleanliness requirements. That is what our ‘Pure Performance’ approach is built on: evaluate, test, convert and support. We do that for every customer.
For rail maintenance operations, the contamination loads are demanding, we know that. But nothing our water-based chemistry can handle when the process is set up correctly. The energy savings are not a side benefit. They are a direct consequence of using the right chemistry at the right temperature.
Meet Us at InnoTrans 2026. Hall 6.2, Stand 440.
DST-CHEMICALS will be at InnoTrans 2026 in Berlin, on 22 – 25 September, Hall 6.2, Stand 440.
If you run a maintenance workshop, manage a rolling stock overhaul operation, or specify cleaning processes for bogie and driveline components, we would welcome a conversation.
Bring your process challenge. We will bring the numbers.
