Siemens has opened unexpected job openings for its railroad technology business in Germany. According to the company, they are looking for managers who know how to use Windows 3.11 to control railroads. Considering that Windows 3.11 came out 30 years ago, this announcement is quite strange.
Why is Germany using Windows 3.11 on its railways?
The latest advertisement posted on a popular German job posting site has become the talk of social media. Deutsche Bahn is looking for an administrator to maintain the systems used on its rail network. However, Siemens stated that these systems still use Windows 3.11.
The job advertisement has now been taken down. However, sources link it to Siemens’ own train software. SIBAS train control solutions developed by the company are thought to be based on Windows 3. The prospective administrator will work with MS-DOS and Windows for Workgroups for legacy systems.
Windows 3.11 was released in 1992 and its support ended in 2001. However, today it continues to be the infrastructure for many important projects such as railroad operations. The SIBAS software has not been updated over the years, leaving it tied to the 30-year-old operating system.
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Many people criticized Germany’s railways over this ad. Some users pointed out that Germany is getting longevity out of old install bases. The fact that Siemens is still using the software it developed years ago confirms this.
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Refurbishment costs for rail technology can run into millions of dollars. This is why operators use the same equipment for decades instead of standard replacement cycles.
