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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)
0 Months Ended 12 Months Ended
May 14, 2013
Dec. 31, 2014
Dec. 31, 2013
Dec. 31, 2012
Jun. 05, 2014
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]          
Common stock, shares authorized 200,000,000us-gaap_CommonStockSharesAuthorized 200,000,000us-gaap_CommonStockSharesAuthorized 200,000,000us-gaap_CommonStockSharesAuthorized    
Stock split ratio 2us-gaap_StockholdersEquityNoteStockSplitConversionRatio1        
Percentage of stock dividend 100.00%wab_PercentageOfStockDividend        
Shares issued during stock split 66,200,000us-gaap_StockIssuedDuringPeriodSharesStockSplits        
Common stock, par value $ 0.01us-gaap_CommonStockParOrStatedValuePerShare $ 0.01us-gaap_CommonStockParOrStatedValuePerShare $ 0.01us-gaap_CommonStockParOrStatedValuePerShare    
Allowance for doubtful accounts   $ 6,300,000us-gaap_ProvisionForDoubtfulAccounts $ 5,700,000us-gaap_ProvisionForDoubtfulAccounts    
Product warranty expense   34,100,000us-gaap_ProductWarrantyExpense 23,100,000us-gaap_ProductWarrantyExpense 22,900,000us-gaap_ProductWarrantyExpense  
Accrued product warranty   87,849,000us-gaap_ProductWarrantyAccrual 60,593,000us-gaap_ProductWarrantyAccrual 58,212,000us-gaap_ProductWarrantyAccrual  
Interest rate swap agreement, Current Liability   3,351,000us-gaap_DerivativeLiabilitiesCurrent 3,005,000us-gaap_DerivativeLiabilitiesCurrent    
Foreign exchange transaction losses recognized in other (expense) income, net   (2,445,000)us-gaap_ForeignCurrencyTransactionGainLossRealized (3,512,000)us-gaap_ForeignCurrencyTransactionGainLossRealized (134,000)us-gaap_ForeignCurrencyTransactionGainLossRealized  
Unbilled accounts receivable   187,762,000us-gaap_UnbilledReceivablesCurrent 205,045,000us-gaap_UnbilledReceivablesCurrent    
Customer deposits   111,797,000us-gaap_CustomerDepositsCurrent 66,573,000us-gaap_CustomerDepositsCurrent    
Provisions for loss contracts   7,100,000us-gaap_ProvisionForLossOnContracts 14,000,000us-gaap_ProvisionForLossOnContracts    
Deferred pre-production costs   24,900,000us-gaap_DeferredSetUpCostsNoncurrent 19,200,000us-gaap_DeferredSetUpCostsNoncurrent    
Research and development costs   61,886,000us-gaap_ResearchAndDevelopmentExpense 46,289,000us-gaap_ResearchAndDevelopmentExpense 41,307,000us-gaap_ResearchAndDevelopmentExpense  
Percentage of work force covered by collective bargaining agreements   28.00%wab_PercentageOfWorkForceCoveredByCollectiveBargainingAgreements      
Collective bargaining agreement, effective duration   2017      
Agreements Expiring In 2015          
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]          
Percentage of work force covered by collective bargaining agreements   21.00%wab_PercentageOfWorkForceCoveredByCollectiveBargainingAgreements
/ us-gaap_EligibleItemOrGroupForFairValueOptionAxis
= wab_AgreementsExpiringInTwoThousandFifteenMember
     
Forward Starting Interest Rate Swap Agreement          
Summary Of Significant Accounting Policies [Line Items]          
Interest rate swap agreements, notional amount   150,000,000us-gaap_DerivativeLiabilityNotionalAmount
/ us-gaap_DerivativeInstrumentRiskAxis
= us-gaap_InterestRateSwapMember
    150,000,000us-gaap_DerivativeLiabilityNotionalAmount
/ us-gaap_DerivativeInstrumentRiskAxis
= us-gaap_InterestRateSwapMember
Interest rate swap agreement, Current Liability   3,351,000us-gaap_DerivativeLiabilitiesCurrent
/ us-gaap_DerivativeInstrumentRiskAxis
= us-gaap_InterestRateSwapMember
3,005,000us-gaap_DerivativeLiabilitiesCurrent
/ us-gaap_DerivativeInstrumentRiskAxis
= us-gaap_InterestRateSwapMember
   
Interest rate swap, accumulated other comprehensive loss   $ (2,243,000)us-gaap_AccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeLossCumulativeChangesInNetGainLossFromCashFlowHedgesEffectNetOfTax
/ us-gaap_DerivativeInstrumentRiskAxis
= us-gaap_InterestRateSwapMember
$ (2,010,000)us-gaap_AccumulatedOtherComprehensiveIncomeLossCumulativeChangesInNetGainLossFromCashFlowHedgesEffectNetOfTax
/ us-gaap_DerivativeInstrumentRiskAxis
= us-gaap_InterestRateSwapMember