In passenger traffic, the strike should start on Wednesday night. Train traffic in Austria is partially affected by the stoppage of work in Germany.
The Federation of German Employers’ Associations had warned in advance that the difficult economic recovery would be jeopardized by the consequences of the labor dispute. The background is the tariff conflict between GDL and Deutsche Bahn. It is about more money and better working conditions for employees.
Hundreds of thousands of commuters and vacationers in Germany are hit by train cancellations and delays in the middle of the holiday season. The train drivers’ union GDL has been on strike since Tuesday evening. The passenger trains as well as the entire infrastructure of the railway will be on strike for 48 hours from Wednesday, 2 a.m., announced GDL chairman Claus Weselsky.
Deutsche Bahn canceled 75 percent of its long-distance trains on Wednesday and Thursday. Deutsche Bahn does not expect largely trouble-free traffic until Friday, as the company announced in Berlin on Tuesday. The labor dispute officially ends on Friday at 2 a.m.
BB expect failures
The BB also expect failures in international train traffic to and from Germany in Austria, as it was said on Tuesday at the request of the APA. “Because of the locomotive drivers’ strike, Deutsche Bahn cannot take over international trains from the border stations,” said a BB spokesman. Both day and night connections in Austria to and from Germany are affected.
Important for local west-east or east-west commuters: Daytime traffic within Austria from Salzburg to Tyrol via the DB corridor is not affected by the restrictions. The Railjet traffic from Vienna / Klagenfurt to Munich and the Eurocity traffic from Italy via Innsbruck to Munich are also to be carried out as planned.
As of today and until August 12th, connections to Brussels, Hamburg and Berlin will not be available for night travel. Specifically, trains NJ 490/491 (Vienna-Hamburg / Amsterdam / Brussels), NJ 20/421 (Innsbruck-Amsterdam / Hamburg), NJ 470/471 (Zurich-Berlin / Hamburg) and NJ 456/457 (Vienna-Berlin ) affected.
Further daily connections to Germany can only be made in the Austrian section from tomorrow, Wednesday until August 12th. The BB ask the passengers to check the current status of their connection before departure: scotty.oebb.at or on Tel .: 05/1717.
“The railway has provoked so far”
Strike priority in Germany, according to the railroad information there, have the particularly heavily used connections such as between Berlin and the Rhine-Ruhr area, between Hamburg and Frankfurt as well as the connections to important train stations and airports. The aim is a two-hour offer with particularly long trains on the main axes.
Despite the replacement timetable, it cannot be guaranteed that all travelers will arrive at their destination as desired. We therefore ask passengers who do not necessarily have to drive to postpone their trip as far as possible. They want to be very accommodating towards customers. The tickets redeemed for the strike period could be used or refunded up to and including August 20 if the train connection is canceled.
“The railway has so far provoked and shown no interest in an agreement,” said Weselsky, justifying the strike after the failed collective bargaining negotiations. In a strike vote, 95 percent of the GDL members would have spoken out in favor of nationwide labor disputes. This clearly shows the mood of the workforce. The German Transport Minister Andreas Scheuer (CSU) asked both sides to return to the negotiating table. “Everyone must have an interest in maintaining trust in the railways as a reliable means of transport – especially after the tough months of the corona pandemic,” he said.
Even before the corona crisis, DB had to struggle with shrinking profits and lack of punctuality. After a loss of almost 6 billion euros in the corona year 2020, it was still 1.4 billion in the first half of 2021. Then there are the billions in costs of the flood disaster. However, since April and with the corona loosening, the railway had felt an upward trend again. Freight traffic in particular also developed positively. On the other hand, the railway is also vulnerable to strikes because of a chronic staff shortage, especially with train drivers.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
