Cologne, 25 August, 11 a.m., Neumarkt: No. 4120 of the KVB (Kölner Verkehrs-Betriebe / Cologne Transport Company), a Bombardier light rail the Cologne type “K 4000”, starts for a special trip towards the KVB company headquarters and depot West on Scheidtweilerstraße. Special about this tour: KVB CEO Stefanie Haaks safely drove the trainset to Scheidtweilerstraße.
She has just passed her “driving licence test” for this type of tram. However, she still has to be accompanied by a teacher during her first 21 services …
Ms. Haaks is not a newcomer at all. Before taking her position as CEO of the Cologne Transport Companies, she worked at the Stuttgart-based SSB. And here, too, she has the right to run the local light rail vehicles on her own.
Why then again in Cologne? Once I have a bus driver’s license, I am allowed to drive such a car all over Europe …
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Since Stefanie Haaks from Stuttgart already knew how to operate railways, she only had to undergo a shortened training in Cologne. Which she has now successfully completed with a (also written) examination.
Mrs. Haaks sums up: “The training was demanding – after all, the actual work as CEO was not to suffer – but the trainingwas also exciting and I enjoyed it.”
But why does a CEO “do something like this”? The answer is simple: Ms. Haaks wants to know the daily work of her employees, who “sit on the train” every day. Haaks: “The high volume of traffic and the crowds in the city are a special challenge for colleagues every day. With their responsible work, they make a very important contribution to ensuring that the city remains mobile.”
In addition, Stefanie Haaks wants to promote the profession of tram driver with her commitment to the driver’s cab of the light rail. Cologne’s KVB urgently needs employees for these activities.
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10.09.2020
