SHARE
COPY LINK

TRANSPORT NEWS

Where are German public transport strikes taking place Thursday and Friday?

As part of a week-long strike action, several cities and states in Germany are seeing transport come to a standstill in the coming days.

Where are German public transport strikes taking place Thursday and Friday?
A sign in Berlin on Thursday says that no bus, tram or U-Bahns will run due to the strike. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Jörg Carstensen

A total of 90,000 local public transport workers across Germany are taking part in a strike action which started on Monday and is set to stretch through Saturday.

The main day of the walkout will be Friday, March 1st, when the group Fridays For Future is also organising numerous parallel demonstrations against the climate crisis.

A majority of the actions are taking place on Thursday and Friday, seeing cancellations of many U-Bahn lines, trams, trains and ferries. In most cases, the S-Bahn and regional Bahn are still running.

Workers are pushing for higher salaries and improved conditions as soaring inflation erodes real wages. In its negotiations with transport bosses, Verdi is seeking a reduction in working hours, increased holiday entitlement and other benefits.

Here’s an overview of the states – and transport lines – affected on both days.

READ ALSO: More local public transport strikes called across Germany

Berlin and Brandenburg

Almost all local transport services in the capital are to be brought to a standstill. BVG buses, trams and U-Bahn trains will remain in the depots, with the only exceptions to be individual lines operated by private providers. The strike is set to last until Friday at 2 pm.

At the same time, the S-Bahn and regional trains that are not affected by the strike will increase their frequency.

READ ALSO: ‘No family life’: A Berlin bus driver explains why public transport workers are striking

Local transport is also on strike in parts of Brandenburg. Employees of the Uckermärkische Verkehrsgesellschaft have already been taking part in the action since Wednesday. 

On Thursday, employees of Ostprignitz-Ruppiner Nahverkehrsgesellschaft were called on to down their tools as well. Massive cancellations are to be expected on all lines.

Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate

In seven cities in Baden-Württemberg, commuters, working people and schoolchildren will have a hard time travelling by bus and train over the next two days. 

The cities most affected by the Verdi strike are Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Heilbronn, Freiburg, Baden-Baden, Esslingen and Konstanz.

The ferries between Konstanz and Meersburg are set to be cancelled on both days. However, there will be Ersatzverkehr (a special replacement service): Pedestrians and cyclists can switch to a passenger ship.

Meersburg strike

A sign on Thursday morning in Meersburg, Baden-Württemberg, says there will be no ferries running due to a strike. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Felix Kästle

In Rhineland-Palatinate, almost all parts of the state are likely to be affected by the strike action, as private and municipal transport companies are striking at the same time. Urban bus transport – for example in Mainz – and all interurban transport in the Palatinate, Hunsrück, Westerwald and Southern Palatinate will all be affected by the action.

North Rhine-Westphalia

In Germany’s most populous state, drivers from around 30 municipal transport companies are taking part in the two-day strike. Only a small number of buses are expected to operate in the strike regions, which are run by private subcontractors. 

The trade union Verdi NRW has called for the work stoppages.

Verdi representatives told DPA that the willingness to strike was once again high. Almost all major local public transport companies in North Rhine-Westphalia, such as KVB (Cologne), Rheinbahn (Düsseldorf), DSW21 (Dortmund), Stadtwerke Münster and moBiel (Bielefeld) are on strike.

It has not yet been announced whether the  two-day action will end on Friday evening or on Saturday night.

Lower Saxony

Many buses and trains have also been at a standstill in Lower Saxony since 3 am. Passengers can expect considerable disruption.

The strike had already begun in Göttingen on Wednesday. Today, Verdi is extending the warning strike in local transport to Hanover, Braunschweig, Osnabrück, Wolfsburg and Goslar. Üstra in Hanover and Braunschweiger Verkehrsgesellschaft are leaving all light rail vehicles and buses in the depots, while Metrobus Osnabrück and Stadtbus Goslar are suspending bus operations.

Only a few city or regional bus routes are currently in operation in the  state, but mainly through private companies.

Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein

Employees of Hamburger Hochbahn (HVV) and Verkehrsbetriebe Hamburg-Holstein (VHH) have also been taking part in the action since the early hours of the morning, leading to a widespread public transport shutdown in the Hanseatic city and parts of Schleswig-Holstein.

Hochbahn operates the underground railway and the majority of bus routes in Hamburg, while VHH mainly operates bus routes in the surrounding areas of Schleswig-Holstein.

 According to a statement from HVV and VHH, all buses and trains will remain in depots: “If passengers set off with the prospect of an emergency timetable and crowd into vehicles that are too full or on platforms, this would be associated with a high safety risk,” it says.

Last Monday, a five-day strike was also called by private bus companies (OVN) in Schleswig-Holstein.

READ ALSO: Why Germany is being hit by strikes almost every day

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

STRIKES

Telekom customers in Germany face disruption as employees strike

Telekom customers in Germany could face disruption including cancelled appointments on Monday and Tuesday as staff stage a walkout.

Telekom customers in Germany face disruption as employees strike

The Verdi union called on Deutsche Telekom employees in several different areas to take part in the two-day ‘warning’ strike this week. 

The strike is part of a nationwide wave of industrial action amid ongoing collective bargaining. German trade unions call warning strikes during negotiations to increase the pressure on employers.

The union said Telekom customers throughout Germany should expect longer waiting times for the service hotline on Monday and Tuesday, while technician appointments may be cancelled at short notice. 

The strike is being held as the union tries to negotiate improved pay and conditions for staff. 

So far, Telekom has offered to pay an inflation compensation bonus of €2,000 to staff, with a 4.2 percent increase in salaries from 2025. 

However, Verdi’s demands include a wage increase of 12 percent for around 70,000 employees nationwide this year, with a one-year term of the collective agreement.

Verdi strike leader Pascal Röckert said: “The employees expect significant improvements.”

Rallies also took place around the country on Monday morning. Around 150 union members gathered at a demo in Freiburg.

A new round of collective bargaining is scheduled to get underway on May 13th and 14th.

The Verdi union previously called Deutsche Telekom employees to head out on a one-day warning strike in April.

German vocabulary

Warning strike – (der) Warnsteik 

Collective bargaining (die) Tarifverhandlungen

To call/ to call on – aufrufen

Inflation compensation bonus – (die) Inflationsausgleichsprämie

We’re aiming to help our readers improve their German by translating vocabulary from some of our news stories. Did you find this article useful? Let us know.

SHOW COMMENTS