Another strike by German train drivers of Deutsche Bahn (DB) will again disrupt the operation of some trains heading from the Czech Republic to Germany and vice versa. The restrictions will affect long-distance trains to Berlin on Thursday and Friday, and regional transport will once again be affected by the absence of express trains between Cheb and Marktredwitz in Bavaria. Night trains will no longer run on Thursday night.
The strike in Germany will start today at 18:00 and will be joined by their colleagues from passenger transport on Thursday morning. While the freight trains will start running again on Friday early in the morning, the passenger trains will not start running according to the timetable until Friday at 13:00.
“Given the scale of the strike, passengers must expect that services will be affected even after the official end of the strike, i.e. for most of the day on Friday,” a ČD spokesman warned.
Due to the strike, the routes of EC Berliner long-distance trains will be shortened and will only run between Prague and Dresden. They will therefore not continue to their destinations such as Berlin, Hamburg, Kiel or Flensburg. Hungaria long-distance trains will also only run to Dresden during the strike.
The service between Prague and Munich will not be interrupted, but an alternative bus service will be available for passengers on the sections concerned. More detailed information is available on the Czech Railways website.
In regional transport, express services between Cheb and Marktredwitz will not run again during the strike. Trains on the Marktredwitz – Cheb – Aš – Hof line will run without restrictions on the days of the strike, however, on 7 and 8 March trains on the Cheb – Marktredwitz section will be replaced by buses between 08:00 and 14:00 due to planned repairs on the line, ČD said.
ČD recommends postponing travel to Germany until Saturday. Passengers who do not use their tickets because of the strike can either return them and receive a full refund or use their tickets until 15 March. The tickets are no longer linked to a specific train.
The GDL union has gone on strike four times since last November, each time paralysing transport not only in Germany but also stopping connections with the Czech Republic. The unions are demanding a reduction in the number of working hours from 38 to 35 per week for shift workers while maintaining full pay, a €555 (roughly CZK 13,650) increase in monthly wages, as well as a one-off compensation of €3,000 (CZK 73,400) due to inflation. The main sticking point has been the demand for shorter working hours, which DB says threatens the very functioning of the railway.
Source: ČD and ČTK
Photo: Deutsche Bahn
