Update
Trains have been at a standstill since 10 p.m
Last GDL strike this year is underway
December 7, 2023, 11:36 p.m
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Most trains rest for 24 hours. Deutsche Bahn has created an emergency timetable. If you can, you should use other means of transport. The good news: It’s the last strike until January 7th. After that, things could get even harder.
A 24-hour warning strike on long-distance and regional transport will once again impose far-reaching restrictions on passengers until the evening. The new strike by the German Locomotive Drivers’ Union (GDL) began on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. in rail freight traffic. Four hours later, the union expanded the industrial action to include passenger trains.
Hours before the warning strike began, the railway had removed numerous connections from its program. This meant that passengers were not threatened with a night-time stop on the open road. In addition, the trains will be where they are needed when operations begin after the end of the industrial dispute.
As with the previous warning strike in the current tariff round, the railway assumes that it will be able to allow around one in five long-distance trains to run. In regional transport, there are hardly any trains on the road, especially in southern Germany. The railway is still struggling with the effects of the snow chaos of the past few days, especially in Bavaria.
Strike also at Transdev
In addition to Deutsche Bahn, the GDL’s competitor Transdev is also on strike. The Nordwestbahn and the Rhine-Ruhr Railway of the group in North Rhine-Westphalia are affected. Transdev employees were also called on a warning strike in Hanover and central Germany.
The GDL has declared collective bargaining at both companies to have failed. The sticking point in both cases is primarily the GDL’s demand for a reduction in weekly working hours for shift workers from 38 to 35 hours with full wage compensation. Employers have so far rejected this.
GDL boss Weselsky told the Düsseldorf “Rheinische Post”: “As sorry as I am for the customers, we currently have no other choice.” Customers should complain to the railway, not the union.
Freight trains are backing up
The warning strike comes at a particularly bad time for freight transport. Due to the weather conditions in Bavaria, a large backlog had already formed in the past few days. “When the strike began, 170 DB Cargo freight trains were waiting to continue their journey, and now more trains are being stopped. It is feared that this number will double,” said a railway spokesman. It cannot be ruled out that the warning strike will also lead to idle production lines in the industry. “Supply-relevant trains will be delivered to their destinations with priority,” said the spokesman.
The railway criticized the GDL’s industrial action overall as irresponsible. The company wants to change the timetable this Sunday. Additional trains, long-distance and regional transport connections will then come. The warning strike shortly before the timetable change caused additional stress in the control centers. The German Association of Cities and Municipalities criticized that the warning strike was announced at far too short notice.
Longer strikes in the new year?
After the warning strike, passengers can take a deep breath. GDL boss Weselsky has ruled out further labor disputes up to and including January 7th. After that, more and harder strikes are possible: the strikes in the new year would be “longer and more intense,” said Weselsky on Bayerischer Rundfunk. The result of the strike vote on indefinite strikes is expected to be available by then. If 75 percent of those voting are in favor, the GDL can call for days of industrial action.
In addition to great annoyance for passengers, problems for the economy would also be expected in such a case. According to DB information, DB Cargo supplies German power plants with around 50 trains full of hard coal every week. Delays in delivery led to problems with the fuel supply. The steelworks are also dependent on deliveries by train: if supplies are not available for two to three days, blast furnaces may have to be shut down.