German rail network at near standstill as drivers begin six-day strike

German train drivers have begun a six-day strike over working hours, a move that has paralysed the country’s rail network and that business executives warn could cost the domestic economy up to €1bn.

The stoppage, called by the GDL union, is the longest in the 30-year history of Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s state-owned rail operator.

It affected freight transport from Tuesday evening and passenger services from Wednesday morning, and is due to continue until Monday evening at 6pm. Deutsche Bahn was still able to operate a skeleton service, with about one in five long-distance trains running.

Some of Europe’s critical arteries were hit by the strike. “European freight transport across the Alps, Poland or to Scandinavia, as well as the seaports in Holland or Belgium is affected,” Deutsche Bahn announced.

Business leaders warned of significant disruption, at a time when the country’s economy is already stagnating. Gross domestic product shrank by 0.3 per cent last year, meaning Germany was the worst-performing major economy in 2023.

The strike will mean “tough constraints, even production stoppages, reductions in output and standstills in industry”, said Tanja Gönner, managing director of the BDI, the main German business lobby. “German industry is already in a fragile situation, in view of the stagnation in the economy.”

She appealed to all parties to “swiftly set aside their pay conflict”, warning that the economic damage from six days of industrial action could reach €1bn.

The GDL’s demand for a 35-hour working week on full pay, down from 38 hours now, has been rejected by Deutsche Bahn management.

The union presented a new proposal on Wednesday, with a longer, four-year transition to a 35-hour week. This too was rejected by DB, which called it a “repetition of well-known maximum demands”.

“What Deutsche Bahn AG is doing is nothing more than the continual rejection of all demands,” GDL boss Claus Weselsky said on Wednesday on German public broadcaster ZDF. He said DB was only moving a “millimetre at a time”.

Asked when GDL would restart negotiations, he replied: “as soon as Deutsche Bahn gets off its high horse”.

Transport minister Volker Wissing called the strike “unacceptable”, and accused the GDL of refusing to negotiate.

“A society can only succeed if everyone exercises his or her rights in a responsible way,” he told German radio. “And I expect from the union that it shows responsibility and comes to the negotiating table.”

He added: “If the talks are so bogged down that they can’t talk to each other anymore, then we urgently need mediation or arbitration . . . We have to find a solution. This permanent stress is unacceptable for society.”

However, the GDL has so far rejected arbitration.

Criticism of the strike also came from BASF, the German chemicals giant. “The fact that freight trains are being cancelled for days on end damages German industry and weakens Germany as a place to do business,” said Uwe Liebelt, head of BASF’s main German production site in Ludwigshafen.

Transports of raw materials between BASF’s factories in Ludwigshafen, Schwarzheide and Antwerp are not affected by the strike as the company has its own locomotives and drivers.

But BASF customers are. Products are usually shipped to customers from Ludwigshafen in trains operated by the Deutsche Bahn subsidiary DB Cargo, but these are now no longer running. BASF said it was seeking to switch to trucks instead.

The company also said its workers, many of whom take trains to work in Ludwigshafen, were also affected. “I feel the impact for these employees is unacceptable,” Liebelt told SWR radio.