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The Germans are on strike

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blackfive460

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It's not over yet but...

According to various reports in the German press it seems that the recent negotiations have had some success.
GDL & DB have agreed a one off payment of 510€ for the period July to December; DB had previously offered 390€, and a reduction of 1 hour in the working week; GDL wanted 2 hours.
Further negotiations on the other outstanding matters, pay and collective bargaining, are scheduled for late January so no further strikes are to be planned for now and the other main railway union, Eisenbahn- und Verkehrsgewerkschaft (EVG) who were also threatening action have agreed not to call any strikes in the same period.

Next, sort out the Belgians...
 
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blackfive460

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Well, it had all gone quiet over Christmas but Uncle Claus is at it again.

He's now accusing DB of playing for time and threatening that if this continues they'll be looking to call more strikes beginning at the end of January.

Plenty of reports in the German press just do a Google news search for 'GDL Streik'.
 
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HA25322

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Well it didn't last long before he decide that he would wait until I was due to go to Germany again and he would do his utmost to spoil it for me. They are at it again.
Check out gdl.de (although I would not give him the satisfaction myself). German government still trying to get through policy stopping the railways from striking but it has not happened yet. Reading between the lines the public are not happy about herr Claus and has no sympathy for him. Keeping fingers crossed it gets sorted but I am not holding my breath and I am now a tad worried about going.
http://www.thelocal.de/20150216/str...n-train-drivers-threaten-new-multi-day-strike

http://www.thelocal.de/20150218/deutsche-bahn-gdl-train-drivers-announce-strike
 
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Groningen

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Any strikeannouncement can be found on this website: http://www.gdl.de/

These raised hands sealed the deal to go for a strike.
th07---Pressemitteilung-1424277623.jpg.jpg
 
stuartmoss

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I'm working in Liege next week on Tuesday, flying to Dusseldorf, getting the train to Aachen and then getting taken by car into Belgium, I'm supposed to be returning on Thursday again via car to Aachen and train to Dusseldorf....should the strike be called, does anyone know of an alternative public transport way to get from Liege to Dusseldorf? Thanks.
 
Jegerpizza

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stuartmoss said:
I'm working in Liege next week on Tuesday, flying to Dusseldorf, getting the train to Aachen and then getting taken by car into Belgium, I'm supposed to be returning on Thursday again via car to Aachen and train to Dusseldorf....should the strike be called, does anyone know of an alternative public transport way to get from Liege to Dusseldorf? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Thalys runs services betweem Liège-Guillemins and Düsseldorf HBF, their services are not affected by the DB strike.

There is a train leaving Liège-Guillemins 08:14, Arriving in Dusseldorf HBF 09:43. This train also stops at Düsseldorf airport, arrival there: 09:51.
There is a train leaving Liège-Guillemins 14:14, Arriving in Dusseldorf HBF 15:42
There is a train leaving Liège-Guillemins 20:14, Arriving in Dusseldorf HBF 21:42 This train also stops at Düsseldorf airport, arrival there: 21:50.

If you have to get your car to Aachen you can take the train departing Aachen:
07:23, arriving 07:49 in Liège-Guillemins meaning you can catch the 08:14 to Dusseldorf.
13:23, arriving 13:46 in Liège-Guillemins meaning you can catch the 14:14 to Dusseldorf.
19:23, arriving 19:46 in Liège-Guillemins meaning you can catch the 20:14 to Dusseldorf.

All these services are operated by Thalys and are therefore not affected by the strike.
 
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dutchflyer

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Not 100% sure if this will be subject to these strikes or not, but anyway this alternative may also work:
NMBS+NS trains to Roermond (or Eindhoven), then prebook on bahn.de the IC-Bus from there to DUsseldorf (from 9 eur/single), this is run by ARRIVA-NL with nice doubledeck Setra coaches, but not overly frequent.
NMBS charges 7 eur extra for INT tickets further as Maastricht, so it pays to pay again there.
 
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STEVIEBOY1

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It's a shame this has happened again. I just booked rail tickets and hotels only yesterday to Berlin & Koln for May. Hope this dispute gets settled asap.
 
stuartmoss

stuartmoss

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Thanks for the helpful replies. The Thalys option is certainly preferable, however I was lead to believe that nothing was running on German rail tracks during the strikes... Will this strike be DB drivers only then?
 
duesselmartin

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it is drivers only. And last time the RE1 trains from Aachen ran hourly towards Düsseldorf. So I don't expect a full shut down, but Thalys will be the safest option.
 
Jegerpizza

Jegerpizza

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stuartmoss said:
Thanks for the helpful replies. The Thalys option is certainly preferable, however I was lead to believe that nothing was running on German rail tracks during the strikes... Will this strike be DB drivers only then?
Click to expand...

The strike is only for a big part of the drivers for DB, some of the DB trains might run, but nobody knows yet what services will and will not, but the tracks are still open for the other TOCs. The only way the DB strike can give problems to other TOCs if is a DB train is blocking a station/line. Thalys should be running and are therefore a safe choice.
 
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gordonthemoron

gordonthemoron

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Is it not the case that DB drivers who are Beamter (civil servants) are not allowed to strike? However most drivers are not Beamter
 
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Groningen

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There is a busconnection between Duesseldorf and Antwerpen; cheapest one way is 14 euro. Departure at 8.10, 13 and 17 hours; arrival 3 hours later. The question i ask myself; you fly to Duesseldorf and have to go to Antwerpen. Something else me that the itinerary is a mess.
 
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U-Bahnfreund

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Actually, I like the strike. Last time, I got an replacement InterCity only existing of 1st class vehicles, and got a 1st class seat with a 2nd class ticket. That was nice :D
 
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blackfive460

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Breaking news
(Always wanted to write that!)

Just read that GDL & DB are getting back round the table for more talks on Thursday so last week's threat of more strike action to be announced this week has been averted - for now.

They'd better sort it out before I get there in April...
 
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STEVIEBOY1

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That's a great shame, I thought these problems had all been sorted out. All being well I am supposed to be going to Brusells soon, then from London through to Koln & Berlin and back in May.?
 
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Redonian

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New strikes dates are to be announced today. Likely to be at no more than 24 hours notice.
 
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HA25322

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They said they would only affect freight last time. However......Just glad I have no planned trips to DB land. Roll on August time when the German government have a ruling coming in I believe that should stop tiny unions stopping national industries. Time will tell.
 
WestCoast

WestCoast

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Yeah, these strikes are quite something really. Fortunately some regional and interregional services are provided by private operators these days - in Bavaria there's, to name main ones, ALEX, BOB/Meridian & Trillex. I find I can get a lot of places using them. Some states rely a lot more on DB for their regional services.
 
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Bletchleyite

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I wonder when DB will announce their contingency timetable (if they are operating anything). I was looking to book a journey on the Berlin-Warszawa-Express in a couple of weeks, but I might hang fire and see how this pans out :(

Last time it seems that train was bustituted as far as Frankfurt-an-der-Oder, which provided it didn't take *too* much longer (as I plan to take the early morning one) is probably acceptable.
 
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