Interview with Ingo (57), site manager in the Catenary Lines for Local Transport Germany profit center within the Railway Technology business unit
Ingo has gotten around quite a bit in his life: In 1985, he emigrated from the German Democratic Republic and found a new home in Dortmund where he worked for the local municipal utility before returning to Rostock in 1992. After a few years performing remote installations and a brief stint in a different field, he found his way back to us in 2006 and went right back to his roots. As one of the first commercial colleagues in our German catenary lines division, Ingo is one of the most senior staff members in railway technology today.
Is there a project in all of your work experience that is particularly enjoyable to remember?
Looking back over the last few years, it was without a doubt the work we did for a transportation company in a large city on the Rhine that, for me, stands out as very special. Not only did we work on this project for two years straight but we also accompanied the construction of a new tunnel, which is very rare for us. ur commission included a lot of auxiliaries, which were electrotechnical in nature, including all safety and emergency facilities. We had to lay thousands of metres of cables.
Office or construction site – where do you prefer to spend your time and what do you like about each?
Thank God, I have both! I spent decades outside in the wind and weather, so you develop a very different appreciation for a warm office. It is a cozy place, even if it means that I have to spend a lot of time on an increasing amount of documentation work for our projects there. However, when I am at the construction site, things are much more dynamic: I like the direct interactions with fitters and customers. Considering that I have to face different weather situations and stay in the downtown areas, I experience a great variety of things.
I need the trips to the construction site for balance – otherwise I would feel that something is missing.
Your son is now working in the same area – does working together present a special challenge?
Of course, we interact a lot, since we work in the same workplace. But we also have an agreement to strictly separate private matters from work. When we go home and get together as a family, we don’t talk about work and our projects. That all stays at the office.
Is there anything you wish to relate to him and your other colleagues regarding this choice of profession?
It’s a really tough job to always be on site in any and all weather conditions. Due to their work with heavy weights and tools, there are only very few fitters who work in this job all the way until retirement. For me, it was always important to never avoid anything: Whenever there was overtime called for or weekend deployments to be handled, I was present at all times. I always strove to be a role model for the seriousness of the cause. This is the only way to instill in the fitters the idea that the success of the construction site will be forever connected with their names. I am very proud that our fitters take this to heart and for this reason are strongly committed to our projects.