La Deutsche Bahn had hoped for a last-minute miracle following the announcement ofa general strike on trains from 10 to 12 January by the GDL railway workers' union. DB had twice gone to the Labour Court (Arbeitsgericht) in Frankfurt to prevent the strike. Court rejects Deutsche Bahn's injunction to put an end to the legal dispute with the union.
This new strike once again has massive repercussions on German rail operations as a whole, particularly in the country's major cities. In a press release, Deutsche Bahn (DB) expressed its deep regret that million passengers be affected again by this strike.
However, the rail operator is introducing an emergency timetable for long-distance services. with a much reduced range of routes. For these journeys, DB is introducing longer trains with more seats to get as many people as possible to their destination. However, DB cannot guarantee that everyone will find a place..
For example, on 11 January, 9 trains will be running between Hamburg and Düsseldorf instead of the usual 30 or so. On the Paris-Stuttgart route, SNCF and DB have closed bookings on TGVs with the cancellation of ICE trains. So it's hard to say that everyone will be able to travel.
There are also very few services on regional routes. However, it varies from region to region. Most suburban train lines (S-Bahn and Regionalbahn) are affected in the cities.
DB's advice: postpone your trip
DB is therefore advising travellers to postpone their journeys. All tickets can be cancelled and travel postponed to a later date.. This may be accompanied by a change of route to the final destination. The DB website and application give all the information on traffic conditions over 24 hours.
It is highly likely that other strikes will follow, as the GDL union has warned of an unlimited, renewable strike. The main demand is a reduction in the working week from 38 to 35 hours for equal pay. This was rejected by DB...
