As a strategic partner of Siemens, the Control Systems division of Astron is working on numerous railway control systems around the world. In 2023, we have mainly worked on Finnish, Swedish, Chinese, Indian and German projects, but previously we had also supported the control system of Siemens on French, American, and even on Australian railways and metro lines. Our colleagues mainly work from our Budapest-based office or from their homes, but the necessity of traveling abroad arises from time to time.
It’s a question of interest how business travel evolves after COVID, how much and how often we travel and for what purpose. Based on the report of Tamás Rátki, the deputy director of our Control Systems Division, the number of business-related trips has exceedingly, by less than half, decreased, although the duration of trips has not changed. When delivering projects and for major milestones it reoccurs that our colleagues travel to the project site, in which case we usually talk about a 1-2 week stay abroad. However, what has completely disappeared are the 1-2 day face-to-face meetings at the management level, which in recent years have been held entirely online.
We are thrilled to be able to travel again, because it has re-established personal relationships, which all contribute to the success of the projects.