Anyone who has to travel by train or plane until Saturday morning has a difficult time. The GDL is on strike at Deutsche Bahn until Friday afternoon. At Lufthansa, the Verdi union has called on ground staff to go on strike until 7:10 a.m. on Saturday. In Saxony there is a basic rail service, most Lufthansa flights to/from Saxony from/to Munich and Frankfurt/Main are canceled.
Commuters and travelers will have to be prepared for restrictions due to strikes again on Friday and early Saturday morning. Due to the strikes by the train drivers’ union GDL and the Lufthansa ground staff, there are significant disruptions. The strike on rail passenger transport runs until 1 p.m. today, Friday. At the same time, the Verdi air transport union has called for strikes. It lasts until 7:10 a.m. on Saturday morning. The background is collective bargaining disputes over higher wages.
Basic offer and goodwill rule from the railway
Deutsche Bahn trains are affected. A railway spokeswoman told MDR SACHSEN: “During the strike, DB is offering a basic service in long-distance, regional and S-Bahn transport.” On long-distance transport, travelers are advised to reserve a seat and find out about the timetable.
During the strike, DB is offering a basic long-distance, regional and S-Bahn service with isolated connections.
Deutsche Bahn | Press office
According to the railway spokeswoman for Saxony, the basic offer primarily concerns connections on the north-south axis. Longer trains with more seats will therefore run to Hamburg via Berlin and also via Erfurt to Nuremberg and Munich. As a gesture of goodwill, Deutsche Bahn is also offering travelers the option to use their tickets at a later date for journeys during the strike period. The train connection has been lifted and seat reservations can be canceled free of charge.
The federally owned transport company had asked travelers to reschedule their trip and said: “Please refrain from unnecessary trips during the GDL strike and postpone your trip to another time.”
Image rights: IMAGO / Volker Preußer
Deutsche Bahn recommends postponing trips
At Deutsche Bahn, the German Train Drivers’ Union (GDL) called for a strike in passenger transport – for 35 hours. With this, union leader Claus Weselsky wants to draw attention to the train drivers’ main demand for a 35-hour week. Deutsche Bahn (DB) has invited the German Locomotive Drivers’ Union (GDL) to new collective bargaining negotiations on Monday, March 11th.
28 flight cancellations on Friday in Leipzig/Halle and Dresden
Lufthansa ground staff are also on strike until Saturday. Most flights to Saxony have been canceled until Friday. As a spokesman for Mitteldeutsche FlughafenAG said, 14 flights were canceled at Dresden airport on Friday. Connections to and from Munich and Frankfurt are affected. In Leipzig/Halle, 14 flights were also affected on Friday, one of them to and from Vienna.
“The regular flight schedule after the end of the strike will then have to settle down,” emphasized the spokesman for the airport company. His tip: Passengers should contact their airline directly before their planned departure.
Image rights: picture alliance/dpa | Sven Hoppe
- ICE and IC trains from Leipzig in the direction of Berlin – Hamburg, Frankfurt am Main – Zurich, Nuremberg – Munich, Magdeburg – Cologne/Emden/Warnemünde and Dresden
- ICE/IC/EC trains from Dresden in the direction of Berlin – Hamburg/Warnemünde, Prague – Budapest, Leipzig – Frankfurt am Main/Cologne
- IC trains from Chemnitz in the direction of Berlin – Warnemünde
- Central German S-Bahn network around Leipzig and hall
- S-Bahn Dresden to Meißen, Bad Schandau, Tharandt – Freiberg, Dresden Airport and Kamenz
- Regional transport (RE and RB) from Dresden to Leipzig, Cottbus, Hoyerswerda, Elsterwerda and Ottendorf-Okrilla.
- Regional trains from Heidenau to Altenberg and Pirna towards Sebnitz.
- Regional transport (RE and RB) from Leipzig to Dresden, Magdeburg via Bitterfeld, Cottbus, Hoyerswerda and Geithain via Bad Lausick.
- DB subsidiary network Erzgebirgsbahn (Zwickau – Johanngeorgenstadt, Chemnitz – Cranzahl, Chemnitz – Olbernhau-Grünthal)
- Regional Express Glauchau – Göttingen via Gera and Erfurt
- Night trains from Dresden and Leipzig to Zurich and from Dresden to Graz and Budapest
S-Bahn Central Germany:
- S2 Leipzig Hbf – Dessau: Trains run every four hours, in Bitterfeld you can change to the S8 towards Wittenberg
- S3 Halle Hbf – Leipzig Hbf: Trains run every hour; on the section between Leipzig and Oschatz, RE50 trains also stop in Gerichshain and Machern; In Schkeuditz there is the option to change to the replacement bus to Halle/Leipzig Airport
- S4 Leipzig Hbf – Torgau: Replacement in the Leipzig – Falkenberg section with trains on the RE10/RE11 line (additional stops in Mockrehna, Jesewitz and Doberschütz); In the Leipzig – Markleeberg section, reference is made to the S5.
- S5 only runs between Leipzig – Zwickau every two hours; Please refer to tram line 16 between Leipzig Messe and Leipzig Hbf.
- S9 Halle Hbf – Eilenburg: Replacement bus service approximately every two hours
S-Bahn Dresden:
- S1 Meißen-Triebischtal – Dresden Hbf – Bad Schandau: Trains run every one to two hours between Coswig and Pirna; Replacement bus services between Meißen and Coswig as well as Pirna and Bad Schandau
- S3 Dresden Hbf – Tharandt: Replacement with the Mitteldeutsche Regiobahn – RB30 Dresden Hbf – Zwickau Hbf with stops at all stations along the way or RE3 Dresden Hbf – Hof Hbf with stops in Freital-Deuben, Tharandt and Freiberg
- S8 Dresden Hbf – Kamenz: Trains run every two to three hours
Regional trains/regional express
- RE1 Glauchau – Mühlhausen: Trains should run approximately every two hours, cancellations possible early in the morning and in the evening
- RE50 Dresden Hbf – Leipzig Hbf: Trains run approximately every two to three hours and also stop in Gerichshain and Machern; Additional journey in the evening in the alternative bus service from Dresden Hbf to Riesa (departure from Dresden Hbf 10:15 p.m.)
- RB33 Dresden-Neustadt – Ottendorf-Okrilla Süd – Königsbrück: Replacement bus service every two hours. Due to the route being prone to traffic jams, delays are to be expected.
- RB71 Pirna – Neustadt (Sachs) – Sebnitz: Replacement bus service between Pirna and Neustadt every two hours, replacement service with large taxis between Neustadt and Sebnitz every hour.
- RB72 Heidenau – health resort Altenberg: replacement bus service every two hours
- RB113 Leipzig Hbf – Geithain: Replacement bus service every two hours
- The Erzgebirgsbahn primarily wants to serve school and commuter traffic in its network. Deutsche Bahn said that trips during off-peak hours would have to be eliminated.
In long-distance transport, Deutsche Bahn (as of Wednesday 6 a.m.) has not published an overview of which trains should run. Various searches in the timetable information revealed that individual ICE trains should travel via Leipzig – as in previous GDL strikes – towards Berlin/Hamburg, Frankfurt am Main and Munich. The IC trains between Chemnitz and Berlin/Warnemünde are no longer available.
There are probably no DB long-distance trains running between Dresden and Berlin. The Eurocity trains heading to Prague are expected to start in Dresden – with the exception of the early train. The EC459 is no longer available, as are the night trains to Zurich and Budapest with through carriages to Graz.
Image rights: MDR/L. Müller
Railway competitors hardly expect any restrictions
The train drivers of the Länderbahn (Trilex, Vogtlandbahn), the Mitteldeutsche Regiobahn, the City-Bahn Chemnitz, the Ostdeutsche Eisenbahngesellschaft in Lausitz as well as the Erfurter Bahn and Agilis in the upper Vogtland have not been called on strike. The Abelio trains from Leipzig towards Naumburg are also not directly affected by the strike. However, failures can occur anywhere if DB AG employees take part in the strike at the signal boxes.
The U28 trains (Děčín – Bad Schandau – Sebnitz – Dolní Poustevna – Mikulášovice dolní nádr. – Rumburk) are staffed by Czech staff and should run according to the timetable.
Image rights: Schmidt – VVO
Flixtrain as an alternative for long-distance transport that requires a reservation
An alternative to the state-owned company’s long-distance trains can be the few trains from the private provider Flixtrain from Dresden and Leipzig towards Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne. These trains generally require reservations; standing places are not permitted.
Image rights: IMAGO / tagesspiegel
Lufthansa wants to contact affected passengers
Due to the announced warning strike by Lufthansa ground staff, passengers at Dresden and Leipzig/Halle airports also have to prepare for cancellations and delays. From Thursday morning to Saturday morning, the airline says it expects “comprehensive impacts” on the flight schedule. As the departure boards of the two airports published online show, most connections to and from Munich and Frankfurt/Main have already been canceled.
Passengers would be informed about cancellations and rebooking options by email or in the Lufthansa app, it said. Many long-distance travelers who want to change at the Frankfurt/Main and Munich hubs are likely to be affected. Because of the rail strike, getting to the departure point for flights to Hesse and Bavaria is even more difficult.
more on the subject
Note: Timetables and flight schedules can change at any time, even during strikes. The transport companies therefore ask all travelers to check their bookings and travel plans regularly.
This topic in the program:MDR SACHSEN – The Sachsenradio | News | March 7, 2024 | 06:00 am