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2026Blasting cabin for rolling stock: custom innovation in the service of sustainability
The role of surface preparation in sustainable railway processes
In the rail mobility sector, the sustainability of transportation means also depends on the efficiency and reliability of industrial production and maintenance processes.
In this context, surface preparation of rolling stock is a critical step to ensure durability, coating quality and regulatory compliance. The installation of a blasting booth equipped with systems for thermal efficiency, energy saving and abrasive recovery makes it possible to reduce the environmental impact of the process without compromising its operational performance.
Electric buses, hydrogen-powered trucks, self-driving streetcars and subways, high-speed trains: the way people and goods move from one place to another on the planet has a tangible impact on the environment and the healthiness of urban settings. The decarbonization of the automotive industry, that is, the transition to more environmentally friendly modes of transportation, is in fact one of the major challenges of contemporary times – a challenge that also increasingly directly involves the industrial processes that make possible the production and maintenance of private and public means of transportation.
The project stems from Eurotherm’s direct experience in the design and installation of blasting cabins for rolling stock, gained on rail plants operating in Europe. In this scenario, surface pretreatments and industrial coating cycles assume a key role – ensuring product compliance and brand reputation.
Customized size and operational efficiency: the must-haves of the rail industry
The transition to the transportation of the future therefore inevitably passes through facilities, technologies and skills capable of making painting a reliable, repeatable and sustainable process.
The custom rolling stock blast booth made by Eurotherm for a leading manufacturer of urban mobility systems meets exactly this logic.
The new installation complements the pre-existing coating line, and ensures that surface preparation is consistent with rail industry quality and regulatory standards. Indeed, the correct execution of pretreatment is crucial to coating performance and compliance with the quality and regulatory standards of the rail industry.
Adequate surface preparation and application of finishes under controlled conditions, starting with proper surface pretreatments, enable the service life of vehicles subjected to mechanical stress, weathering and intensive operating cycles to be extended, reducing maintenance interventions, material consumption and energy waste.
Hence, the customer’s need to integrate within its French facility, a pretreatment solution configured for specific process needs. The blast booth designed and installed by Eurotherm is sized to accommodate vehicles up to more than 30 meters in length. Two cantilevered elevating platforms are available for work at height, towards the center of the cabin and sliding along its entire length (31 meters). The total grit recovery system via scraper and auger manages the abrasive residue used during processing to avoid accumulation in the cabin and dispersion into the environment, and facilitate recycling of excess raw material.
To maximize efficiency and minimize its impact, the cabin is also equipped with a heat generator and air recirculation system via partial by-pass that contributes to the heating of the plant in the winter months.
Eurotherm’s well-established experience in industrial blasting in compliance with the safety, quality and sustainability requirements of the rail industry translates into the design of technologies and plants with controlled consumption, capable of reducing process costs and operating in accordance with the principles of sustainability.
Railway industry: the ISO standards for sandblasting and painting surfaces
Relevant legislation for the rail industry includes a number of internationally valid ISO standards that cover both manufacturing processes and rolling stock finishing.
The main ones concern: rust and steel surface preparation grades (ISO 8501); technical surface roughness characteristics of blasted substrates (ISO 8503-1 / ISO 8503-2); preparation methods (ISO 8504); and dust control (ISO 8502 series).
Other standards refer specifically to the requirements that grits must have to ensure conformity, continuity and repeatability of industrial blasting. These include:
- ISO 11124, which defines the technical requirements for metal abrasives used in sandblasting;
- ISO 11126, which defines specific requirements for particle size, hardness and composition;
- ISO 11127, which establishes test methods to verify the quality and absence of contaminants;
We refer to the Eurotherm Learning Center article, “Industrial sandblasting: how to prevent paint defects,” for further discussion.
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Eurotherm provides design expertise for the development of blasting solutions for rolling stock, integrated on existing equipment and complying with rail industry standards.