Svenstol at the DB Leipzig operations centre

05/14/2024

Many of us certainly remember the days when there was a small railway cottage next to a level crossing or a switch, where a railway attendant was on duty. Some of us may even still have a picture in mind of the railway guard operating the barrier with muscle power and a crank.

Nowadays, barriers and points and all rail traffic at Deutsche Bahn are controlled automatically at the touch of a button by seven operations centres responsible for specific regions. The operations centre in Leipzig was one of the first to go into operation on 27 November 1999. With over one hundred workstations, it is the largest operations centre. From here, the traffic controllers and dispatchers ensure that rail transport in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia and parts of Brandenburg runs as smoothly as possible. Several thousand long-distance, regional and freight trains are dispatched from here every day. If there is a disruption in the planned schedule - for example due to a cancelled train - the staff at the operations centre are responsible for ensuring that the service continues as quickly as possible according to the timetable.

The Leipzig operations centre was also the first of the seven headquarters to use our Svenstol 24-hour chairs. Team leader Uwe Möws was involved in selecting a suitable chair for his employees in 2015: "The requirements for a chair that is suitable for our 24-hour operation are extremely high. However, it is an important prerequisite for our employees to be able to fulfil their tasks well. After having rather mixed experiences with the previous chairs, we decided in favour of the Svenstol in 2015. All of our 100 or so 24-hour workstations are now equipped with the Svenstol and we are very happy with it." The Svenstol S5 is now in use in all seven operations centres.

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