Biggest strike in years cripples German rail service

Millions of travellers have been hit by one of the largest railway strikes in Germany which crippled train services across the country. 

More than 70 per cent of train services were cancelled yesterday, the first day of a two-day strike, making it biggest since 2008. 

The strike has been called by the locomotive drivers’ trade union GDL to press its demands for higher salary and improved working conditions.

The strike, which is the second within a week, forced the German rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) to drastically reduce or to shut down its regional train services, long-distance trains, suburban railways, city shuttle services and freight train services in several regions. Hundreds of travellers stranded at the main railway hubs in Hamburg, Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich have been offered the possibility to stay overnight in some of the sleeping cars of the railways, the DB said in a press statement. The state-owned rail operator said it expected further disruption in its services on Sunday and this to continue until the strike ends tomorrow early morning. The DB has worked out a special railway schedule for the duration of the strike and offered stranded passengers the possibility to get a refund of their tickets or to make fresh reservations without additional costs, the statement said. The GDL held a nine-hour strike on Tuesday in support of its demands for a five per cent pay hike.