A coordinated strike effort by two German unions aims at throttling Germany’s public transport on Monday, March 27, 2023. People who are scheduled to travel to any German town will be facing major challenges at the beginning of next week. Affected are (amongst others) Germany’s two major air traffic hubs Frankfurt and Munich, as well as all long distance trains. The regional train network will be impacted, too.
What is Happening?
Two unions came up with this bold idea. One is German service workers union ver.di (yup, we got a single union for that). In the transport sector alone, ver.di represents airport ground staff and security workers, as well as regional and city level train, tram and bus drivers. To their aid comes one of Germany’s three train driver unions: EVG. Both unions confirmed that they will call their members to strike next Monday in several of Germany’s sixteen Bundesländern (states), among them the four largest and most populous.
Both Frankfurt and Munich airport officially announced that all flights on Monday are cancelled. German train company Deutsche Bahn followed suit and terminated all long-distance trains (EuroCity, InterCity and InterCityExpess) for the day. Regional trains in Hessia, North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Wuerttemberg, Saxony, Lower Saxony, Rhineland-Palatinate and Bavaria will be heavily affected.
What is Affected?
The following institutions and services will not operate on March 27, 2023:
- All long distance trains in Germany
- InterCity (IC)
- EuroCity (EC)
- InterCity Express (ICE)
- The following airports
- Frankfurt
- Munich
- Hamburg
- Düsseldorf
- Cologne/Bonn
- Stuttgart
- Nuremberg
- Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden
- Dresden
- Leipzig
- Hanover
- Dortmund
- Paderborn
- Bremen
The following institutions and services will be heavily affected on March 27, 2023:
- Regional trains in:
- Hessia
- North Rhine-Westphalia
- Baden-Wuerttemberg
- Saxony
- Lower Saxony
- Rhineland-Palatinate
- Bavaria
- Selected ship and ferry services
What Can I Do?
Your options are limited. In case you are scheduled to fly or take a train that shall arrive in Germany on Monday, your airline will probably rebook you. According to the EU passenger rights, you have the right to alternative transportation: in this case, a day earlier or later – or flying from a neighboring country or unaffected airport like Berlin. Free cancellation of your ticket is an option, as well. Since third-party-strikes are considered a higher power, you are not entitled to additional compensation.
If you are already in Germany and try to travel, your options are limited. One of them is a car rental, you should however act quickly, as those will be booked fast and prices will most likely skyrocket. You can find offices of Europcar and Sixt in almost every major German city. Long distance buses like Flixbus can also get you to your destination, but most likely sell out quickly, as well. Car sharing services like BlaBlaCar are quite popular in Germany, as well. The best option however, might be to stay where you are and reschedule the rest of your trip, if possible.
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