It should start on Monday - but the scope, locations and duration of the warning strike of railway workers are still not clear. The outage was announced by the Railway and Transport Workers' Union (ECG) after it had broken off collective bargaining on Saturday.
According to information from trade union circles, the announced strike is scheduled to take place across Germany from Monday morning on both S-Bahn trains as well as regional and long-distance traffic. It would not be limited to just a few sections or exclude commuter trains or commuter trains, said with the preparations confidant of the news agency Reuters. However, it would focus on individual regions. This means that commuters in particular have to be prepared for delays and train cancellations on Monday mornings.
On Saturday, it was said by circles of the ECG, that on Monday morning employees could lay down their work, especially in signal boxes and workshops nationwide. The action could therefore last until noon.
The Deutsche Bahn expects a limited focus, as the company announced on its website: "There is currently announced a focus in North Rhine-Westphalia in the morning, which is expected to have transregional impact." In particular, the company recommended travelers from and to North Rhine-Westphalia to arrive on Sunday or only on Monday after striking.
For travelers with Flexpreis- and Sparpreist tickets valid on Monday, the train tie will be canceled, the tickets could be used on Sunday. Travelers should inform themselves about their connection here before traveling.
The tariff talks between the railway and the TOE had been canceled on Saturday morning in Hanover. In the capital of Lower Saxony, the railway is negotiating in parallel with the engine driver union GDL. Again, no agreement has been reached, but the talks should be continued on Tuesday.
Both unions demand 7.5 percent more money and the expansion of a 2016 agreed model in which employees can choose between wage increase, shorter working hours and more vacation. In total, it is about 160,000 employees.
Since Sunday, the new timetable of Deutsche Bahn applies. It comes for the customers with an extension of the offer, but also with higher prices therefore (more about the individual measures and price increases read here).