As if one strike wasn't enough in Germany, the VERDI transport union has also announced several public transport strikes until Friday. Meanwhile, The Berlin airport is completely blocked this Wednesday.
Four states are affected by the strikes: Bavaria, Hamburg, Saxony, and North Rhine-Westphalia.
In Bavaria, nine cities are affected by the transport strike from Wednesday 18 March at 11 am to Friday 20 March at 4 am. These include the major cities of Augsburg, Munich, Nuremberg and Regensburg. This means complicated access to the airports for Nuremberg and Munich. No underground trains or buses are running to Nuremberg Airport.
Complex situation at Munich Airport
In Munich, buses, trams and the underground are at a standstill, but German railway Deutsche Bahn's regional trains (S-Bahn) are running this Wednesday.
Nevertheless, passengers travelling to the airport from tomorrow will have to contend with a complete disruption to rail traffic, this time due to work by DB. No trains – neither S-Bahn (S1, S8) nor airport express (ÜFEX) – will run between Thursday, 19 March at 9:30 PM and Monday, 23 March at 5 AM. A replacement bus service is being set up between the airport and the Neufahrn or Ismaning stations. This means journey times will be extended by 20 to 40 minutes and there will be high passenger numbers.
Elsewhere, North Rhine-Westphalia, which includes the cities of Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf and Essen, among others, will have to do without buses, trams and underground trains on March 19. However, regional trains operated by DB will be running. In Hamburg, the public transport company Hochbahn is also planning a full-day shutdown of the underground and buses on March 19. Finally, a more limited strike is also affecting Saxony, particularly in the regions east of Dresden.
Other movements could potentially affect the regions of Bremen, Hesse and Saarland in the coming weeks. Negotiations are ongoing…
