Background:

This profile covers the processes and activities carried out at railway engineering works. The works covered by this profile are generally referred to as heavy maintenance depots. This profile also includes the processes and activities carried out at refuelling yards.

Potential Processes and Operations:

Railway works have been involved in the manufacture and repair of locomotives, carriages and rolling stock. The buildings range in size from small engine sheds, where only minimal maintenance is undertaken, to large-scale manufacturing works, where construction of engines, carriages and rolling stock and a full range of maintenance and refuelling operations takes place. Many sites have their own electrical generation facilities and there could be water pre-treatment facilities in areas where water is particularly hard. Larger works may have incorporated steelworks and gas works.

Potential Contaminants of Concern:
Contaminant type Main group of contaminants Location
Storage areas Workshop areas* Waste storage Waste disposal (ash pits, on-site landfill) Ancillary industrial activities
Organic Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)  
Halogenated hydrocarbons  
Non-halogenated hydrocarbons  
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs    
Dioxins and furans          
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)      
Pesticides and herbicides      
Organometallic compounds          
Explosives          
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)          
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)    
Inorganic Metals  
Non-metals and common inorganic substances
Asbestos
Cyanides
 
 
Radionuclides        
Other potential contaminants of concern Ethylene glycol, coal, ash and landfill gas. See original Industry Profile for additional potential contaminants.
* workshop areas include the following types - fabrication, construction, painting, plating, electrical, maintenance, dismantling, cleaning, repair etc.