HAMBURGER HOCHBAHN is owned by the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. For more than 100 years, the company has been a pioneer within the field of sustainable mobility in Hamburg, and as the city was appointed “European Green Capital 2011“, standards are high as to air quality and climate protection. All subway lines and e-buses drive on certified eco-power. Our ambition: By 2030, the entire HAMBURGER HOCHBAHN fleet should be completely zero-emission. This is only possible by consistently focusing on sustainability within all areas – also in terms of use of resources and reduction of emissions wherever possible, for instance by switching to the products of DST-CHEMICALS.

After the initial project using DST-CHEMICALS proved to be an economically and ecologically success, HAMBURGER HOCHBAHN was certain: The cleaning concept of DST-CHEMICALS is ideal for the sustainable direction of the biggest transport company in Hamburg.

After the successful transition to the biodegradable and water-based DST-CHEMICALS cleaner for degreasing of bogies and add-ons, an eco-friendly solution for external cleaning of the trains was the next step. Cleaning with substances based on hydrochloric acid was a challenge for both employees and the environment; it was further time consuming and resulted in extra costs for neutralisation of waste water and washer maintenance.

DST-CHEMICALS HAS DEVELOPED A NEW, ACID-FREE PRODUCT FOR EXTERNAL CLEANING OF TRAINS

Developing products, which cater for specific customer requirements, is one of the main competences of DST-CHEMICALS. A catalogue of services was created in cooperation with the specialist team at HAMBURGER HOCHBAHN, led by Michael Schnabel. Removing oil, grease and dust in a ph-neutral, environmentally friendly and efficient manner was key. 

“Working with the team from DST-CHEMICALS was fantastic. They immediately understood our special requirements and were at our side throughout the entire process”, Michael Schnabel recalls. 

“They further conducted cleaning tests on our trains, and the newly developed product DST-DEGREEZ/40 exceeds our expectations”!