SELECTED QUARTERLY FINANCIAL DATA (UNAUDITED) - Selected Quarterly Financial Data (Detail) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	May. 14, 2013	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) $ / shares	Sep. 30, 2015 USD ($) $ / shares	Jun. 30, 2015 USD ($) $ / shares	Mar. 31, 2015 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) $ / shares	Sep. 30, 2014 USD ($) $ / shares	Jun. 30, 2014 USD ($) $ / shares	Mar. 31, 2014 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2015 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2014 USD ($) $ / shares	Dec. 31, 2013 USD ($) $ / shares
Disclosure Selected Quarterly Financial Data [Abstract]
Net sales		$ 832,849	$ 809,527	$ 847,028	$ 818,594	$ 820,866	$ 797,271	$ 731,068	$ 695,249	$ 3,307,998	$ 3,044,454	$ 2,566,392
Gross profit		267,628	257,069	267,764	255,355	254,297	247,458	224,658	209,569	1,047,816	935,982	764,027
Income from operations		151,209	152,078	155,860	148,420	136,963	135,977	132,323	121,846	607,567	527,109	437,310
Net income attributable to Wabtec shareholders		$ 101,779	$ 99,181	$ 101,504	$ 96,164	$ 92,686	$ 90,155	$ 88,705	$ 80,134	$ 398,628	$ 351,680	$ 292,235
Net income attributable to Wabtec shareholders (in dollars per share) | $ / shares		$ 1.06	$ 1.03	$ 1.05	$ 1.00	$ 0.96	$ 0.94	$ 0.92	$ 0.84	$ 4.14	$ 3.66	$ 3.05
Net income attributable to Wabtec shareholders (in dollars per share) | $ / shares		$ 1.05	$ 1.02	$ 1.04	$ 0.99	$ 0.95	$ 0.93	$ 0.91	$ 0.83	$ 4.10	$ 3.62	$ 3.01
Stock split ratio	2