Status: 05/16/2023 11:15 a.m
After the cancellation of the two-day warning strike by the railway and transport union (EVG), local and long-distance traffic is running again without restrictions, according to Deutsche Bahn (DB).
“As announced, we are again on the road with the complete timetable in passenger transport today,” said the railway on Tuesday. “A few restrictions” can only be expected in freight transport. From Wednesday, regular operations should also be running there again.
High utilization of the trains around Ascension Day
According to DB, passengers can flexibly use their tickets booked up to May 11th for the travel days May 14th to 16th until May 24th. This applies to local and long-distance transport. Alternatively, according to the information, tickets booked for long-distance transport for the travel days May 14 to 16 can be refunded free of charge until May 11th. In addition, DB points out the usual passenger rights in the event of train cancellations and delays. Since the trains around Ascension Day are already very busy, Deutsche Bahn advises against moving trips without a reservation to May 17th, 18th or 21st.
Few restrictions on Monday
According to Deutsche Bahn, there were only a few restrictions on train traffic in the north on Monday. The railway operation “started largely according to plan,” said a spokesman. Around 90 percent of the regularly scheduled trains were on the move in long-distance traffic. The regional and S-Bahn traffic ran largely without strike-related restrictions. At the weekend, Deutsche Bahn still expected that around a third of the planned long-distance trains would not run on Monday.
Because the EVG union is not only negotiating collective agreements with Deutsche Bahn, but also with smaller competitors at the same time, there were restrictions on some private companies on Monday. In Schleswig-Holstein, for example, train traffic on the Neumünster – Heide – Büsum route should not start again until Tuesday. There were also restrictions between Hamburg-Altona and Wrist and between Hamburg Hauptbahnhof and Itzehoe. On the North German Railway, trains on the Niebüll – Dagebüll and Niebüll – Tondern (Denmark) routes were canceled. According to the company, there were no disruptions on Monday at the Ostdeutsche Eisenbahn Odeg in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Due to the use of DB infrastructure, Odeg is usually also affected during strikes.
50-hour warning strike canceled on Saturday
The 50-hour warning strike called by the EVG was to begin at 10 p.m. on Sunday and end at 12 p.m. on Tuesday. The EVG had surprisingly canceled the planned strike on Saturday. Previously, there had been an agreement in the collective bargaining dispute with the railways mediated by the Frankfurt am Main Labor Court, which will now form the basis of further collective bargaining. The collective bargaining round affects 230,000 employees, 180,000 of whom work for Deutsche Bahn.
Further talks between the EVG and the railways are now planned for Wednesday. The official collective bargaining round in Fulda in the coming week should be prepared in a “small circle”, according to the railway.
Further information
