German Train Drivers Embark on 6-Day Strike

German train drivers started a six-day strike on Wednesday. The walkout, over pay and working hours, is the most significant in years at Deutsche Bahn, the national train operator, which warned of a massive reduction in service.

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The emergency timetable for passenger transport "started in the morning as planned," Deutsche Bahn said. The company expects disruption to all long-distance and regional services.

The German Locomotive Drivers' Union (GDL), which includes train drivers and other rail workers, is calling for a reduction in employees' working week from 38 to 35 hours with no drop in pay. The changes are to be implemented gradually by 2028.

The trade union also wants an extra 550 euros a month for workers plus an inflation compensation package to be renegotiated after 12 months.

"The proposals are based on the wage agreements that we were able to reach with our collective bargaining partners in recent weeks," the union told Deutsche Bahn on Tuesday.

The railway company has dismissed GDL's demands as unrealistic, arguing that the latest offer by the trade union was "nothing but a repetition of well-known maximum demands that cannot be implemented in this way," a Deutsche Bahn spokesperson said.

Strikes affecting rail freight traffic already kicked off Tuesday evening. "European freight traffic across the Alps, Poland or to Scandinavia as well as the seaports in Holland or Belgium are also affected," Deutsche Bahn said.

According to Tanja Goenner, managing director of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), supply chain disruptions would mean yet another blow to Germany's troubled economy by potentially forcing industrial companies to cut back or temporarily halt production.

She estimated the economic damage of a six-day strike at around one billion euros. She therefore urged the two sides to aim for a swift settlement.

The German society has been divided over the issue, with 59 percent of the respondents to a recent survey by market research institute YouGov saying they had "no sympathy" for the strike action.

Another strike as a measure of last resort is unacceptable without the two sides having explored all options for reaching a compromise, Transport Minister Volker Wissing wrote on X. "I call on the negotiating parties to find solutions at the negotiating table or to initiate arbitration," he said.

Ongoing construction works are also affecting rail traffic in Germany. The country has started to extensively renovate its dilapidated rail network, with key long-distance routes being completely closed for months.