The Deutsche Bahn train drivers' strike ended early Monday evening

The strike at Deutsche Bahn ends ahead of schedule. The trains were originally supposed to stop until Monday evening. In the transportation of goods, the dispute ends on Sunday evening.

The GDL train drivers' union ended its strike at Deutsche Bahn early. According to information from the German News Agency, there will be a passenger transport strike until Monday evening at two in the morning. The industrial action was originally supposed to last six days and only end on Monday evening. This means passengers should be able to prepare for largely normal operations again on Monday.

The freight transport strike ends Sunday evening at 6 p.m. Several media outlets also reported the early end to the strike on Saturday.

There will be no more strikes for the time being. According to the information, the railways and GDL agreed to keep peace until March 3. The tariffs will be negotiated behind closed doors from February 5. According to the information, the goal is to reach a collective agreement by the beginning of March. It was known on Saturday morning that the two sides were holding talks again.

The strike was the fourth strike since the collective bargaining dispute began. It began Tuesday evening for freight traffic and Wednesday morning for passenger traffic. In the past few days, the railways have been providing about 20 percent of their usual long-distance service with an emergency schedule. In regional transportation, the effects of the strike, as with previous GDL labor disputes, varied depending on the region.

We hope for a quick solution

With the agreement now reached, there is hope for an early solution to the escalating conflict for the first time in weeks. Collective bargaining between DB and GDL began at the beginning of November. After the first round, GDL President Wezelski called for a warning strike. After the second round, the talks were declared a failure and voting on a strike began. Since then, the signs have been pointing to escalation rather than negotiation.

The focus of discussion recently has been the weekly working hours of shift workers: the GDL calls for a reduction in working hours from 38 to 35 hours with the same pay. The railways have so far rejected this request.

Last week, the group presented an offer that included a 4.8% pay rise for employees from August and an additional 5% from April 2025. According to this DB offer, from January 2026, train drivers and train stewards can choose between another 2.7% pay rise Or reduce work by one hour per week. GDL was particularly upset about this offer because of an additional restriction: DB made the option available on 1 January 2026, on the condition that there would then be a sufficient number of train drivers and train stewards working for the group. (APA/DPA)