BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – In Germany, rail traffic largely came to a standstill on Friday morning as a result of a warning strike by the railway and transport union EVG. Since 3:00 a.m., employees of around 50 railway companies have been in industrial action, as an EVG spokesman confirmed in the early hours of the morning. “The shifts that are running now are going into the strike phase”. At the same time, the Verdi services union is continuing to strike at the airports in Hamburg, Cologne/Bonn and Düsseldorf – and from Friday also at the airports in Stuttgart and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden.
The walkout on the train should initially affect commuters in particular. It was initially unclear to what extent the after-work and weekend traffic would be affected later in the day. Deutsche Bahn will only let long-distance traffic roll from 1 p.m., but the group has already warned of possible impairments into the evening hours. The restart of regional traffic should tend to be faster after the planned end of the warning strike at 11 a.m.