Whether buses, trains or planes – Bavaria’s traffic was severely affected in many places at the beginning of the new week. Anyone who wanted to go to work had to get into a car, bicycle or scooter – public transport was to come to a virtual standstill in many cities. Millions of commuters and travelers as well as large parts of freight traffic were affected by the 24-hour industrial dispute. As a result of the work stoppages, significant failures and traffic jams in traffic throughout Bavaria were expected.
“It’s still the calm before the storm,” said a spokesman for the Lower Franconia police in the morning. “But it will probably start soon.” A police spokesman reported for the area of Upper Bavaria South: “So far we have not had any disturbances.” Whether there is of course heavy traffic in many places, he cannot say.
“We will have very broad support,” announced a Verdi spokesman early in the morning at the beginning of the shift. There should be warning strikes in Munich, Nuremberg, Augsburg, Regensburg, Würzburg, Schweinfurt, Bamberg, Bayreuth, Fürth, Erlangen, Ingolstadt, Passau and Landshut.
Pupils could stay away from class under certain conditions, as Minister of Education Michael Piazolo (Free Voters) said. “There are special regulations for schoolchildren who cannot come to school because buses and trains are canceled and who have no other way of traveling: you can stay at home on Monday.” Then the school must be informed.
Nothing works at Munich and Nuremberg airports, in Memmingen flights are normal
Air travel was also affected. “There are no passengers on the road,” said a spokeswoman for Munich Airport Traffic Control. All 785 scheduled flights were canceled today. “Nothing takes off or lands. It’s almost a bit spooky.” Only an ambulance plane arrived in Munich in the morning. The rescue planes stationed at Nuremberg Airport were not affected by the warning strike. An airport spokesman said that return campaigns for Germans who had fallen ill or had an accident abroad were still possible. Normal passenger traffic, on the other hand, does not take place. “32 connections have been canceled.” Tens of thousands of passengers were affected throughout Bavaria. In Memmingen, however, should be flown normally on Monday.
There was also a state of emergency on the rails. The railway union EVG has called for nationwide warning strikes at Deutsche Bahn and regional competitors. In long-distance traffic, the railway waived a replacement timetable. In regional and S-Bahn traffic, too, train cancellations are to be expected for the most part, it said.
With the warning strikes, Verdi and EVG want to increase the pressure in their current collective bargaining rounds. Cross-border train services were also affected. No trains should run between Germany and Austria on Monday. The Czech state railway Ceske Drahy expected that all cross-border regional and long-distance trains would only run within the Czech Republic. The Swiss Federal Railways also assumed that their trains would not come to Munich.
There should also be delays at the Autobahnmeisterei Fischbach, Kempten and Niederbayern, as well as at the Autobahn GmbH des Bundes in Rosenheim, Munich and Niederbayern and the waterways and shipping office in Oberpfalz and Niederbayern.