Rail travel resumes in Germany after two-day industrial action

Berlin (dpa) – Rail travel slowly resumed in Germany early Friday as a two-day strike by the GDL train drivers’ union ended, main rail operator Deutsche Bahn confirmed.

The strike came to an end as scheduled at 2 am (0000 GMT), a Deutsche Bahn spokesman told dpa.

Deutsche Bahn was working to restore smooth operations on all lines as quickly as possible.

However, passengers could expect individual train cancellations and delays even on Friday, the spokesman added.

The union had warned again on Thursday of the threat of further industrial action.

Train drivers went on strike from Tuesday to press their demands for a pay rise, including a coronavirus premium.

The union has rejected a zero wage increase and, instead, demands the coronavirus bonus and pay rises of 3.2 per cent during a 28-month period.

The union’s vice-chairman, Norbert Quitter, said the GDL would assess next week how the publicly owned German rail company’s board reacted to the first day of the strike, the GDL’s first in six years.

Quitter assured that railway workers would resume work after the strike ended.

Under an emergency plan drawn up by Deutsche Bahn, only about 25 per cent of long-distance trains were running during the strike, with about 40 per cent of regional services, forcing travellers to seek out alternative forms of transport.

The strike also hit the urban rail services operated by Deutsche Bahn in many German cities, causing havoc for commuters.

The industrial action came in the middle of the nation’s annual summer vacation period, with school holidays currently under way in 11 of the nation’s 16 states.

Despite expected delays, both Deutsche Bahn and the GDL are hopeful that services will return to normal as quickly as possible.

A survey published on Thursday by pollsters YouGov found that 31 per cent of the German population were sympathetic to the train drivers’ strike action, which has been building up for months.

But 55 per cent of those surveyed told YouGov they had no sympathy for the strike, which the GDL announced shortly before its members began walking off the job.