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Photo: Thomas Banneyer / dpa

The six-day strike by the German Locomotive Drivers' Union (GDL) at Deutsche Bahn has started.

The strike began on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. in freight traffic, and at 2 a.m. the GDL expanded it to passenger traffic, as the railway confirmed early in the morning.

The strike is scheduled to last until Monday evening at 6 p.m.;

Passengers have to come to terms with significant restrictions on long-distance and regional transport.

For the first time in the ongoing collective bargaining dispute, the strike also covers an entire weekend.

As with the previous strikes, the railway has set up a shortened timetable with a greatly reduced offer.

Customers can find out which trains are running via the railway website or their app.

The group has also set up a free information number to provide individual information about the timetable (08000 99 66 33).

Anyone who has previously purchased a ticket for the strike period can postpone the trip to a later date.

The railway has canceled the train connections and seat reservations can be canceled free of charge.

(Read here what train travelers need to know now.)

German industry expects the train drivers' strike to cause enormous problems and damage to companies in freight transport.

There was a threat of severe restrictions, including individual production downtimes, cutbacks and standstills in the industry, said Tanja Gönner, general manager of the Federation of German Industries: "In a six-day strike, a total damage amount of up to one billion euros is not unrealistic."

This also has a long-term effect.

In addition to the operational and economic damage, there would be “significant damage to the image” of the rail transport mode, said Gönner.

"Doubts about the reliability of the rail infrastructure, which has already fallen recently, continue to grow, and the system is becoming increasingly less attractive for logistics decision-makers."

Gönner described rail freight transport as the “backbone” for numerous key industries such as the chemical, steel, automobile, paper and wood industries.

The strike will particularly affect the connection and supply of production sites in the area, transport processes that rely on rail, such as the transport of dangerous goods, as well as raw material and export deliveries.

The collective bargaining dispute must be resolved quickly.

Rail freight transport is only just beginning to recover after weather-related difficulties.

German industry is already in a fragile situation given the economic standstill.

The situation in the collective bargaining conflict is deadlocked.

There have been no negotiations between the GDL and the railway since the end of November.

The union under its boss Claus Weselsky also saw no basis for discussion in the railway's most recent offer.

In December, the GDL had its members vote on indefinite strikes, and around 97 percent of the participating employees were in favor of it.

Since then, strikes lasting several days have been possible.

In addition to financial demands, the collective bargaining dispute primarily revolves around the issue of reducing weekly working hours for shift workers.

The GDL wants to reduce this from 38 to 35 hours while keeping the salary the same.

Among other things, the railway has offered an option model that provides for a one-hour reduction without financial losses.

Anyone who decides against this will instead receive 2.7 percent more money.

Weselsky sees the offer as no basis for further negotiations.

The collective bargaining conflict is complicated by the fact that the GDL wants to expand its influence in the company and also conclude collective agreements for employees in the infrastructure division.

There are already collective agreements there from the larger railway and transport union (EVG), with which the GDL competes.

The railway has so far rejected this request.

fdi/dpa