GDL throws travelers into chaos! Take every train you can from Sunday onwards

Once again, travelers have little time to prepare for the strike. The GdL wants to strike from August 21st up to and including August 25th. The entire local and long-distance traffic of Deutsche Bahn is also affected. First of all, freight traffic should come to a standstill. From Sunday, the GdL will also remove passenger trains from the timetable.

The trains for rail customers are to stand still from Monday, August 23rd from 2:00 a.m. to Wednesday, August 25th, at 2:00 a.m. However, travelers will already have to expect restrictions at the weekend. The departure tracks in particular could change. Travelers should inform themselves before departure and when changing at the train stations.

FOCUS Online says: It is to be expected that trains will be withdrawn from service as early as Sunday afternoon. If there are delays, travelers cannot hope that connecting trains will wait.

If there are signs of massive restrictions on your journey, in the event of a delay or a train cancellation you should definitely take all the trains you can get on Sunday evening to get to your destination quickly. The web is usually accommodating.

• Case study: If you drive from Offenburg to Munich on Sunday evening and the ICE arrives late in Offenburg, you could miss the connecting train from Karlsruhe. Shortly before the start of the strike, travelers can usually change to the French TGV from Karlsruhe and then travel to Munich.

How do I find out whether trains are running at all?

The Deutsche Bahn above “bahn.de/aktuell“, There is also information about the app (the download is available here) and via the strike hotline 08000 99 66 33.

Deutsche Bahn is also setting up replacement timetables because of the strike that has been announced. These are to be published on the Deutsche Bahn website.

Until when can I use my booked tickets?

If your chosen train was delayed by more than 60 minutes due to the strike or even canceled completely, the statutory passenger rights apply. In this case, you can apply for compensation. Incidentally, this also applies when the strike is long over.

If you bought your ticket online via your customer account with Deutsche Bahn, you can submit your claims directly using the online application in your customer account. This is possible both on bahn.de and in the “DB Navigator” app.

All tickets already booked for routes that are affected by the GDL strike from August 23rd to August 25th will remain valid and every affected rail customer can probably use the tickets flexibly up to and including the end of August.

Workers on Monday also affected!

Many workers are also affected by the GdL strike. Almost the entire S-Bahn network in Berlin, Bremen, Ulm, Dresden, Hamburg, Hanover, Cologne, Bonn, Magdeburg, Leipzig, Halle (Saale), Munich, Nuremberg, Frankfurt am Main, Darmstadt, Wiesbaden, Mainz, Offenbach am Main, Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Mannheim, Heidelberg, Kaiserslautern, Karlsruhe, Ruhr area, Düsseldorf, Rostock, Stuttgart or Breisgau comes to a standstill.

The trains should run at irregular intervals – or even fail completely. Local public transport would also be affected because many people have to switch to precisely these modes of transport.

During the rush hours in the morning (between 7:30 a.m. and 9:00 a.m.) and in the evening (between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.), buses and subways could get fuller, and trains could not arrive at the stations on time due to the high volume of traffic.

GdL has also announced weekend strikes from September

Travelers are also currently in a waiting position.

GdL boss Claus Weselsky announced further strike measures at the press conference on Friday, should the railway not respond to the wishes of the union. Weselsky stated that it could no longer be prevented that there would also be strikes on weekends – in addition, there could be short-term strike announcements.

This is why travelers need a long breath, especially from September onwards – and should possibly start looking for alternatives now. If you want to travel in September, you should definitely opt for a flight, rental car or bus.

Possible option: return by plane, bus or car. If you are planning a train journey, you should check direct connections and make sure to use long transfer times (at least 30 minutes) when changing.

Which rail providers operate despite a strike?

The entire local and long-distance transport of Deutsche Bahn is affected by the GdL strike.

Trains from private providers such as Bayerische Oberlandbahn, Flixtrain, Vlexx, SBB Germany, Benex, Keolis, AKN Eisenbahn, alex, oberpfalzbahn, trilex, vogtlandbahn, waldbahn or the MittelrheinBahn in Rhineland-Palatinate and North Rhine-Westphalia are not on strike.

Book your train journey with FlixTrain now (advertisement)

In the middle of the Corona crisis there is a strike – travelers need to know that

In the aisles and on the platforms it could get busier than usual with replacement trains and alternative bus routes. Travelers should definitely bear this in mind.

If possible, keep your distance and wear an FFP2 mask. Take several protective masks with you on longer train and bus journeys, which you can replace at regular intervals. It is also helpful to have disinfectant with you if you want to go to the train toilets, for example.

If you have to go to the hotel, you should know: From August 23rd, unvaccinated hotel guests ALWAYS need a negative antigen rapid test upon arrival.

If you are traveling with children, it would be advisable to either cancel the trip completely on the day of the strike, to switch to other means of transport or to change the trip completely.

In the video: