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
Centralwerkstatt (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).