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TRAIN TRAVEL

‘Rail no longer reliable’: How latest German train strikes are hitting services

On Monday German train drivers union GDL called more strikes this week - as well as future unlimited ones which would be announced without prior notice. Here's what passengers need to know.

Published: 4 March 2024 17:20 CET
Updated: 7 March 2024 12:21 CET
Leipzig
A train leaves Leipzig's main train station. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Hendrik Schmidt

On Thursday and Friday only one in five regional, long-distance and S-Bahn trains are slated to be in service as the GDL union stages another round of strikes.

While the strike is set to stretch until Friday at 1 pm, delays are expected throughout the day.

READ ALSO: German air and rail workers walk out simultaneously in new strike round

What’s going on?

After four months of failed negotiations between German train drivers union GDL and the state-owned Deutsche Bahn, GDL head Claus Weselsky felt like the final straw had been reached.

Following an more than month-long peace truce between the last Deutsche Bahn train strikes and the latest round of negotiations which ended Sunday, Weselsky on Monday called for “a wave” of unlimited actions which would render regional and long-distance transport “unreliable”.

READ ALSO: German train drivers union announces new wave of strikes

The first action on passenger trains started Thursday.

“The first strike will last for 35 hours so everyone in the country can feel what we are talking about,” Weselsky said, adding that further strikes would follow.

“We are starting a so-called wave of strikes,” he said, which will be announced “when we think the time is right” and no longer 48 hours in advance as has been the case in the past.

As a result, “rail is no longer a reliable means of transport”, he added

What is the exact timing of the strikes?

The upcoming strike in passenger transport began on Thursday at 2 am and ended on Friday at 1 pm, said Weselsky. 

In rail freight transport, the strike already began Wednesday at 6 pm and last until 5 am on Friday.

After that, however, further work stoppages would come spontaneously, and Weselsky left it open open whether there would also be strikes over the four day Easter weekend starting Friday, March 29th.

Weselsky announcing the strikes at a press conference in Berlin on Monday. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Hannes P Albert

What is the union demanding?

As well as a salary hike to help train drivers cope with higher living costs, the GDL union is pushing for a reduced working week of 35 hours, down from 38 hours, with no loss in wages.

Deutsche Bahn says it has made concessions amounting to up to 13 percent more pay, as well as the option of cutting the work week by one hour from 2026.

How will “strike waves” affect passengers?

Passengers could be caught cold by this new strategy before starting their journey. This is because the procedure could prevent Deutsche Bahn from being able to draw up emergency timetables before the start of the strike as they have previously done.

According to Weselsky, neither the length nor the start of the nationwide wave strikes will be known and emergency plans will “very probably not be possible”.

The strike also has a broader effect on the economy. A multi-day walkout by train drivers in January caused travel disruption for thousands of passengers and heaped pressure on supply chains already strained by tensions in the Middle East.

Deutsche Bahn estimates that each strike day costs the German economy “a low two-digit million figure”.

How severe are the restrictions on train transport?

According to Deutsche Bahn, the strike on Thursday and Friday will have a “massive impact” on operations. During the last strike at the end of January, around 20 percent of long-distance services alone were cancelled, and there were also major disruptions to Deutsche Bahn’s regional trains and S-Bahn trains.

What is running despite the strike – and where can I find out more?

“During the strike, DB is offering a basic range of long-distance, regional and S-Bahn services,” the Group writes on its website. The offer can be accessed via the timetable information on their website and in the DB Navigator or by calling the strike hotline on 0800-99 66 33. 

DB is also offering a a telephone travel information service on 030/2970. DB asks travellers to find out 24 hours before departure whether their connection is available.

What alternatives are there to travelling with DB?

Private railways such as FlixTrain are not on strike by the GDL and can still be used by travellers. Bus connections are a possible alternative. Travelling by plane will be difficult this week due to the announced Lufthansa strikes on Thursday and Friday.

READ ALSO: Lufthansa ground staff in Germany to stage another airport strike

Can travellers take another train?

Luckily yes. “All passengers who have purchased a ticket up to and including March 4th for a journey in the period from March 7th to March 8th 2024 and wish to postpone it due to the GDL strike can use their ticket at a later date,” wrote Deutsche Bahn in a statement. 

An ICE (Inter City Express) of German national railway operator Deutsche Bahn (DB). Photo: Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP.

This means you can continue your journey to your planned destination on any other train, even if the route is different to the original one. This also applies to journeys from abroad to Germany and vice versa. Seat reservations that are no longer required can be cancelled free of charge at the DB ticket office. 

DB also put a goodwill offer on the table: Anyone who has the opportunity to bring their journey forward can travel with immediate effect.

How do the strikes affect employees?

The employee bears the so-called travel risk, meaning they need to make every reasonable effort to get to work on time. This may include travelling by car instead of taking the train. Delays that are foreseeable – as is usually the case with strikes – must be planned for by the employee.

 For example, you have to leave earlier or allow more time for a diversion.

If you are still late, this can have consequences under labour law. But there are also limits: For example, it’s not considered reasonable to start your journey to work the day before and stay overnight in a hotel. You also don’t have to pay for a taxi journey that is completely disproportionate to your salary.

While there is no entitlement to working from home during strikes, German employers are often flexible about ‘Home Office’, in fields which allow for it, during strikes.

How is Deutsche Bahn reacting to the newest strikes?

Not very well.

Chief Human Resources Officer Martin Seiler criticised the GDL’s announcement on Monday that it would no longer provide at least 48 hours’ notice of further strikes in future. “These are a sheer imposition for our passengers.”

Because the train drivers’ union is not getting its maximum demands, it is striking again, said Seiler.

“That’s stubborn and selfish. Many millions of people in our country cannot travel by train because the GDL leadership is unwilling to compromise.” 

He added that millions of euros are being wasted “because a few people are fighting for their own particular interests”. 

With reporting by AFP.

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TRAIN TRAVEL

‘More seats’: How Deutsche Bahn is tackling overcrowding on German regional trains

Regional trains in Germany have become completely overloaded on excursion routes in the summer season since the introduction of the Deutschlandticket. This season Deutsche Bahn plans to take countermeasures.

Published: 30 April 2024 11:11 CEST
'More seats': How Deutsche Bahn is tackling overcrowding on German regional trains

Anyone who has travelled with Deutsche Bahn’s regional (RE) trains during the summer vacation period has probably seen how crowded German trains can get.

Last year, trains on some routes were completely overloaded. 

Regional train passenger numbers have increased significantly since the introduction of the Deutschlandticket. According to the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV), the ticket, which costs €49 per month, has an average of 11.2 million users per month.

Deutsche Bahn wants to prevent overcrowded trains by adding more capacity in regional transport in summer, especially on routes that are in demand for tourism. 

“We will provide more seats,” said Evelyn Palla, Deutsche Bahn board member and DB Regio CEO, to the German Press Agency. “Exactly what this will look like is currently being coordinated with the authorities.”

Which routes are the most crowded?

Regional trains heading for the Baltic Sea from Berlin, for example, sometimes had to pass stations with waiting passengers last summer because they were already too full.

“Especially in the case of excursion destinations, we are seeing a strong increase on weekends…,” said Palla. 

She added that the routes; from Berlin to the Baltic Sea, from Hamburg to Sylt, or from Munich to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, are known to get exceptionally crowded.

Each of these routes connect summer travellers from big cities to popular regional vacation destinations.

The northern island of Sylt, for example, is known as a playground for affluent Germans. The North Frisian island became the subject of endless jokes when the Deutschlandticket was announced and German holidaymakers began to realize that with a €9 subscription ticket, people across the country could theoretically vacation there. 

READ ALSO: What is Sylt and why is it terrified of Germany’s €9 holidaymakers?

Common vacation periods, like when public schools are out for summer break, and weekends also have an impact on train capacities, as well as the time of day. 

The aforementioned routes tend to be more crowded in the outward direction during the morning and early afternoon, and then more crowded in the inbound direction in the evenings as people return home.

How can DB add more capacity?

It will be difficult to make adjustments in the short term, because the public authorities – the federal states and their transport associations – have authority over regional transport. 

Palla said that DB is already communicating with the relevant parties. “We are in talks with them about how we want to proceed this summer,” she said.

Palla also emphasised that outside of key destination routes, regional transport is not overloaded in Germany. “We have an average capacity utilisation of 25 to 30 percent,” she said, which is half as much as in long-distance transport. “However, it can happen that we reach our limits on certain days of the week, on certain lines and routes.” 

When it comes to adding passenger capacity on trains, the options are pretty straightforward, DB needs to add either more cars to its trains, or more trains on the routes that are crowded. But DB didn’t specify its exact plans.

Palla does not think, however, that the situation will be made worse by the upcoming Euro 2024 championship in Germany – a belief that will be tested in June.

However, Palla said that in addition to promoting the Deutschlandticket, politicians must also invest in the expansion of the offer because it is convincing people to choose public transport.

“At the end of the day, this is the lever that convinces people to use public transport,” she said.

READ ALSO: Where to expect disruption due to rail upgrades in Germany this year

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