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STRIKES

How German rail and air travel strikes will hit cross-border travel to Switzerland

German train drivers and Lufthansa cabin crew members are set to walk out in strikes this week. Here's how it could affect your travel plans to or from Switzerland.

Published: 11 March 2024 13:29 CET
File photo shows Lufthansa aircraft.
File photo shows Lufthansa aircraft. Photo: Image by Norbert from Pixabay

Not a week has gone by without a strike or two being called in Germany recently. And there’s more misery ahead for passengers as rail and air travel is to be impacted in simultaneous industrial action this week. 

The German GDL Train Drivers’ Union said its latest members’ strike affecting passenger rail services would start at 2am on Tuesday March 12th and last until 2am on Wednesday, March 13th.

For cargo services the strike is set to start a few hours earlier, the union said in a statement.

It comes after a 35-hour train drivers’ strike in Germany last week which paralysed the network on Thursday and part of Friday. It is the union’s sixth walkout since November in the dispute for more pay and fewer working hours. 

The GDL union blamed the latest strike on deadlocked talks with rail operator Deutsche Bahn.

Adding to the chaos, Lufthansa cabin crew are set to walk off the job at Frankfurt airport on Tuesday March 12th, and at Munich airport on Wednesday March 13th in a strike called by the UFO trade union.

The German airline group was already hit by a two-day strike by ground staff last week as the Verdi union demanded higher pay for its members. This action affected hundreds of thousands of passengers. 

How will the latest strike affect air travellers?

If you have a flight booked with Lufthansa to or from Switzerland during the strike, you may be affected. 

You might have already received a message from the airline operator telling you about the strike and the next steps to rebook or to get refunded. 

According to Frankfurt airport’s information page, some flights to Geneva, Basel and Zurich scheduled on Tuesday have already been cancelled, with return flights also affected. 

It was not possible on Monday to see which flights have been cancelled to and from Munich on Wednesday.  

How will the strike affect train passengers?

As you would expect, people in Germany are going to be hit the hardest in the strike affecting passenger services from the early hours of Tuesday until 2am Wednesday.

Although an emergency timetable is usually put in place, around 80 percent of rail services nationwide have been cancelled in previous train drivers’ strikes. 

Long-distance trains and regional transport is disrupted, although the availability of regional services varies between different areas. 

But it’s not only domestic German travel affected – international long-distance services are usually hit too. In previous strikes, four out of five Deutsche Bahn long distance and international trains have been cancelled. 

SBB Deutschland, which operates services in Germany and the cantons of Basel-City and Schaffhausen in Switzerland, said: “The train drivers of SBB Deutschland themselves are not on strike. Nevertheless, operations depend on the dispatchers and other professional groups of the infrastructure operator DB Netz AG as well as their tracks and systems. If they stop working, our trains will also come to a standstill.”

SBB Deutschland said they hope services can run according to the regular timetable but pointed out that special services the operator ran between Freiburg and Basel during previous strikes “cannot be offered due to the short notice”.

Rail operators have urged people to check the status of their connections in advance and if affected to travel on a different date.

You can check strike developments on the SBB’s website here and the Deutsche Bahn website here.

READ ALSO: Why Switzerland beats Germany for reliable trains

What are the strikes about?

As well as salary increases, the GDL Train Drivers’ Union’s key demand is a reduced work week of 35 hours, down from 38 currently, at full pay.

The UFO union is fighting for wage increases for Lufthansa cabin crew members amid rising inflation, and maintains that the offers from management so far are not good enough.

Although Switzerland is used to strong industrial action talking place in neighbouring countries – notably France as well as Germany, the Swiss generally do not have a striking culture.

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For members

TRAVEL NEWS

Why you should not rely on trains to and from Switzerland this summer

Travellers are urged to switch from air to rail to protect the environment. But international train connections to and from Swiss cities will be derailed in the coming months.

Published: 10 May 2024 11:36 CEST
Why you should not rely on trains to and from Switzerland this summer

If you’re planning to go abroad by train this summer, arm yourself with patience.

The reason is the abundance of construction sites across Europe, which slow down, or disrupt altogether, the train schedule.

In Switzerland, railroad maintenance work is carried out at night in order not to disturb the daytime timetable. Some neighbouring countries, however, “have decided to completely close train lines for the duration of the works”, Swiss media reports.

As a result, train travel to and from Switzerland will be chaotic amid the summer holiday rush.

Let’s look at Italy first

One of the most popular vacation destinations for Swiss tourists will become less accessible in the coming months.

From June 9th, and for at least three months, the train service between Italian cities of Domodossola and Milan will be interrupted due to railway works, also disrupting travel between western Switzerland and Italy.

A bus service will run between the two cities, adding at least an hour to the trip in the best traffic conditions.

However, this plan is not acceptable to Swiss national railway company SBB.

“Given the scale of the work, we are considering setting up direct buses from Geneva and Lausanne to Milan via the Grand Saint-Bernard tunnel,” the company said. “We are planning around three buses in each direction every day.”

Italy’s inability to ensure smoother travel “is embarrassing”, according to Bruno Stormi, who sits on the Transport Committee in the Swiss parliament.

“When the freight train derailed in the Gotthard Base Tunnel last August, the SBB was able to reorganise the traffic within three days,” he pointed out.

The responsibility for the Domodossola – Milan disruption lies with Italy, “because the section concerned is operated by Trenitalia”, he added.

Another MP, Simon Stadler, also pointed out that “Switzerland is very dependent on foreign countries for international rail connections. Our room for maneuver is very limited in this area.”

And that brings us to France

The construction work under way north of the French city of Dijon will result, from August 13th to December 14th, in fewer TGV trains running from Monday to Friday from Zurich and Lausanne to Paris, and back.

Detours via Strasbourg will be possible on the line linking Zurich to Paris.

Germany and Austria

Those wishing to travel by train to Switzerland’s two other neighbour countries will also have a bumpy ride.

Due to construction, trains from Basel to Hamburg will be canceled from July 15th to December 14th.

The Zurich-Stuttgart line will also not be served continuously between August 3rd and September 6th.

Those travelling to Austria must seek their own solutions when the line between Buchs (SG) and Feldkirch will be closed from August 10th to September 9th. Replacement options are still being developed.
 
READ ALSO: Why a Swiss-EU deal could be bad news for train users in Switzerlan

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