After the start of a 20-hour warning strike, the railway has asked its passengers to avoid non-essential trips this Thursday or to postpone trips. “The GDL strike is causing massive disruption to all long-distance and regional traffic,” the railway announced early on Thursday morning.
If you still have to travel, you should check the railway information media shortly before you start your journey. The emergency timetable for passenger transport has started. The German Locomotive Drivers’ Union (GDL) has largely paralyzed rail traffic nationwide with a warning strike since Wednesday evening. The GDL announced the official end of the warning strike for 6 p.m. on Thursday.
Deutsche Bahn assumes that there will be no regional trains in some regions. S-Bahn traffic in larger cities is also affected. In long-distance transport, the group expects more than 80 percent of all ICE and IC trains to be canceled. The consequences are also likely to be far-reaching in freight transport.
Munich: A traveler is still standing quite lonely in the main hall of Munich Central Station early on Thursday morning.
(Photo: Lukas Barth/dpa)
It is the GDL’s first industrial action in the ongoing collective bargaining dispute. She demands 555 euros more per month as well as an inflation compensation bonus for a term of twelve months. As a core demand, she also wants to implement a reduction in working hours for shift workers from 38 to 35 hours per week with full wage compensation. The railway describes this as unachievable, but offered eleven percent more salary for a term of 32 months as well as the required inflation compensation bonus.