DYes strike The train drivers’ union GDL paralyzed German train traffic. “According to our observations, the strike is effective nationwide,” railway spokesman Achim Stauss said on Wednesday morning. The railway is trying to get a quarter of the ICs and ICEs on the rails in long-distance traffic, and to ensure that there is at least a two-hour cycle between major cities.
In regional and local transportation, the railway hopes to provide a reliable basic quotation, but depending on the intensity of the strike, the quotation will vary from region to region. “We are doing our best to get people to their destination today,” Stauss said. At the same time, he called on travelers to postpone unnecessary trips.
Trains in many parts of Germany have been cancelled in the morning. In Hesse, commuters “must be prepared for a lot of waiting time,” a railway spokesperson said. The replacement schedule has begun, but train traffic has been severely damaged. In regional traffic, there should be an hour to two hour discount. Due to the strike, there are no trains anywhere on the line. Many trains were cancelled on the display board of Frankfurt Central Station, but the passengers were still very busy in the morning.
S-Bahn is also affected
In the Rhine-Main region, several S-Bahn lines are also affected by the strike, which runs every 60 minutes. This applies in particular to the connection from Darmstadt to Bad Soden or from Frankfurt to Friedberg. In some cases, bus replacement services have been set up on some routes. Railway advice: “Please also include subway, tram, bus and express bus connections in the city center in order to reach your destination or use connections from other nearby train stations.”
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On Wednesday morning, the impact of the strike was also evident in North Rhine-Westphalia. As the railway spokesperson announced, the operation has been converted to an emergency timetable for long-distance and local transportation. 25% of long-distance travel attempts to maintain. However, in local traffic, emergency timetables may also have short-term breakdowns. Although the focus of the strike was more in eastern Germany, the situation in Cologne was also tense on Wednesday morning. According to the railway, passengers must be prepared for short-term cancellations and sometimes longer delays.
In Saxony-Anhalt, regional traffic is particularly severely affected. Here, the lines of various regional trains were interrupted. Many S-Bahn and regional trains in Saxony have also been cancelled. Similar reports come from Bavaria and Baden-Wurttemberg, although there are obviously some significant differences in regional traffic. For example, since Deutsche Bahn’s competitors did not go on strike, private railways operate on many regional transportation routes in Bavaria.
How wage disputes will continue is public. According to its own statement, GDL hopes to further explain its progress in the labor dispute with Deutsche Bahn next week. “Whether and when we will strike, we will not decide when to end the strike on Friday morning, but we will decide next week,” GDL boss Claus Weselsky said on ZDF.
The railway called on the union to return to the negotiating table. “In terms of wage growth, we are already closer to each other,” Stauss said. Disputes over the duration of collective agreements can be resolved through negotiation. When asked whether Deutsche Bahn will make a new offer, Stauss said: “The first thing to do now is to manage the strike.” Wesselski said that only when Deutsche Bahn makes an improved offer, GDL Will return to the negotiating table.
After the collective bargaining failed, GDL Strikes on passenger and freight traffic across the country until Friday morning.
