Interview with project manager Arne about his work in the field of railway traffic
When Arne takes a train in his home country of Belgium, it often takes him to places that make him proud: Since September 2011, he has been realising railway technology projects of all orders of magnitude together with his teams and on behalf of infrastructure operators.
Arne, being a trained environmental engineer, how did you get into railway technology?
That was pure coincidence. Five years ago, I saw that EQOS Energie is active in the field of photovoltaics and applied. However, after two interviews, I ended up in railway technology, because there was a vacant assistant position at the time. I am interested in principle how technology solutions are created, so I quickly felt at home in the railway technology field.
As long as the work gets done I have a lot of leeway in scheduling my days.
What does a typical railway technology project look like?
There is no typical project. The scope ranges from very small projects in which only a single mast needs changing to very large ones that keep us busy for several years. As project manager, I am mainly concerned with coordination – with customers, colleagues and fitters at the construction sites in question. Time and again, this also means weekend work and night shifts. In most cases, I am working simultaneously on one or two large and many smaller projects. I spend half my day at construction sites and the other half at the office. But that’s not a problem. As long as the work gets done I have a lot of leeway in scheduling my days.
What was your greatest challenge so far? What are you particularly proud of?
The greatest challenge so far was the Livan project in Antwerp and it was my largest project at the same time: 10 kilometres of new tram tracks above ground and eight kilometres of tunnels. I managed the project from A to Z and was able to conclude it successfully with the necessary support from many of my colleagues. Especially in the tunnel area, there were some surprises, but in the end everything worked out. My colleagues and I are proud to the present day when we drive through Antwerp, because we collaborated on this.