COLOGNE: Hundreds of thousands of travelers feared train cancellations across Germany beginning Wednesday, as a three-day statewide rail strike exacerbated travel misery in Europe’s largest economy, where farmers’ demonstrations have blocked highways and congested traffic.
The GDL train drivers’ union called the strikes, which lasted from Wednesday to Friday evening, forcing national rail operator Deutsche Bahn to operate only emergency timetables.
A Deutsche Bahn representative informed reporters at Berlin’s central station, which was empty of its typical crowds, that one in every five long-distance high-speed rail services were running and regional services had been “massively thinned out.”
Commuters dressed up against frigid conditions monitored departure boards for timetable changes at Cologne railway station in western Germany.
After Ulrich Linke’s first train failed to arrive, he stated that he would wait for the next one. “I’ll wait for three-quarters of an hour at minus seven degrees here in the main station,” he was quoted as saying.
“It’s sad when you work in healthcare,” commuter Alex Mueller commented. “We work in a retirement home and we have to get to work.”
After convoys of tractors and trucks stopped roads across the country earlier this week, the leader of the German farmers’ union DBV threatened to intensify their demonstrations on Wednesday.
Strikes and protests add to the pressure on Chancellor Olaf Scholz’ coalition administration, which is dealing with mounting economic issues including as dismal macroeconomic statistics, high interest rates, and a budget mess.
The long-running dispute over train drivers’ wages and working hours erupted again after a three-week truce over Christmas, and after Deutsche Bahn’s attempt to halt the latest strikes with a court injunction failed.
The GDL wants to decrease the working week for its shift workers from 38 to 35 hours on current pay. Deutsche Bahn has given work-hour flexibility but has refused to reduce them without a salary cut.
“We are willing to make compromises and gradually reduce weekly working hours so that the employer side has the opportunity to train staff,” GDL CEO Claus Weselsky told ZDF.
“If we get nothing by Friday, we’ll take a break then enter the next round of industrial action,” he went on to say.
Cargo train drivers are also on strike until Friday, causing supply chain concerns, as railways handle nearly one-fifth of German freight traffic.
