New Train Strike in Germany, 6-10 Nov. 2014

Thank for the heads up, Jo.

I assume that privatized regional companies, like Meridian (Munich to Salzburg, ALX (Lindau to Prague), BOB (south of Munich - Tegernsee, Schliersee), Mittelrheinbahn (left bank of Rhein), VIA (right bank of Rhein, etc will be running.

Yes, usually they do keep running, but it is always better to check.

Looks like the strike is going to happen. The DB has a live info link you can access to find actual train schedules. It seems they may run 1 out of every 3 trains. Website is in German, so if you have questions or need help, just ask me.

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/dn?sotRequest=1&dbkanal_009=L01_S01_D001_KNL0015_J2014M11T05-001_86972346585_ID9_LZ01

During train strikes such as these, how easy/difficult/expensive is it to get alternative modes of transportation? Also, do these affect all train services within the borders of Germany or also those that are international such as, say, Frankfurt to Zurich or Paris to Frankfurt?

We have a trip coming up within a month and I was hoping that there would not be an interruption given that the DB recently had a strike in October if I remember right!

"Also, do these affect all train services within the borders of Germany or also those that are international such as, say, Frankfurt to Zurich or Paris to Frankfurt?"

Depends.

Best check the schedule on the German Rail website.

I see a direct ICE from Frankfurt Hbf to Paris that is running. On some other multi-train connections that have sections on German Rail trains, the section on German Rail is cancelled. Thalys and the TGV seem to be running.

For the direct EC from Munich to Zuerich, the part in Germany is cancelled, but the part in Switzerland is running. For trains to Zuerich, be sure to use that spelling (or, if you can, Zürich) or you will just get trains to the airport.

The direct EC from Munich to Italy via Innsbruck seems to be running.

And anything is subject to change.

Hi Jo.....just on the site to get info on Potsdam and saw your post regarding the DB strike. We are in Helsinki and flying into Frankfurt arriving around 20:30 on Saturday and need to get to Fulda. Where do I check to see if a train will be leaving from the airport or do I just check when we arrive? Also, what about busses? Really appreciate any help you can give us. Do hope trains are up and running by the following Wednesday as we have a trip planned to Berlin. I guess our other alternative will be renting a car but would prefer not to. Thanks so much.

Hopefully Jo will check in as she has a closer look at what is going on right there

As far as I can see from the Bahn website, there are trains running from the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof to Fulda. However, nothing is running, at least at that time of night, from the airport into the Hbf. You might have to take a taxi. I do see a bus going to Süd (south) Bahnhof; there might be a bus from there to the Hbf, but buses are likely to be crowded.

Using the Frankfurt Metro website (rmv.de) I do see some bus connections from the airport to the Hbf, but none are direct, ie, they all involve multiple changes of buses.

Just checked the www.rmv.de to see what trains are running on Sat. night and it shows that the S-bahns will be running from the Regional train station to the Hauptbahnhof. Today, they were just running once an hour. They usually run until 01:00 or so every night of the week.

There is a Regional train to Fulda from the Hauptbahnhof on Sat. night at 21:26 and 22:26. This is one of those private companies, so not affected by the strike.

Thanks Jo and Lee for your quick response. Jo, do I understand correctly that we can take a s bahn from the airport to the Frankfurt hbf and a regional from there to Fulda? Also, do you know if my railpass will be accepted on this private train? I feel so much better here in Helsinki having this information for Saturday. Cool and cloudy here but we are having a great time....beautiful city anc friendly people. Moi moi. Joanne

Update to the Deutsche Bahn strike. They will be ending the strike on Sat. evening at 18:00. It may take a while to get everything running punctually again and Sunday may see some delays too, so plan on a bit of extra time both Sat. night and Sun.

Joanne, I'll have to take Jo's word for it that those are privatized trains running from Frankfurt Hbf to Fulda because nowhere on the Bahn website does it mention that. There are a lot of companies (VIA, MRB, ALX, Merian, etc) running there own trains on Bahn tracks under the Bahn's privatization policy. They run a regular schedule as Bahn trains and accept Bahn tickets and passes. You shouldn't have any problem using your pass between Frankfurt and Fulda.

The only exception I know of (perhaps others can help) are the trains of the Bayerische Oberlandbahn (BOB) which runs south from Munich to Holzkirchen, then to Lenggries, Tegernsee, or Bayrischzell. According to their webpage, they do not accept Eurail or German Rail passes, but they do accept the Bayern-, Schönes-Wochenende- and Quer-durchs-Land-Tickets. (I guess the Zugspitzbahn from Eibsee to the Zugspitze summit and the Wendelsteinbahn might be other examples.)

Again, thank you both very much. The strike settled in short time which is great for all. For sure we'll get back to Fulda in plenty of time for Richard to plan for his Monday lecture. Have enjoyed our time in the land of his grandparents. First Ilkka to be back in Finland in over 150 years. You both have been so very helpful over the years and it is truly appreciated. Joanne

Joanne, I don't think the strike "settled". They just agreed to cut it short so as not to have too much of an impact on travel to Berlin for 25 year celebration. I expect they'll strike again in the near future. Probably while we're there next month:)

Apparently, the S8 and the S9, which go between FRA and Frankfurt Hbf, will not run from 11:30 until 20:00 (8 PM) Saturday night. A stop in between, next to FRA, is Stadion, where FC Frankfurt is playing a soccer match Saturday night, so fans will have to take buses.

There will be Regional trains though on Sat. connecting the airport with the Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof. They will not be stopping at the Stadion or Niederad, which are the normal 2 stops between the airport and the city.

You can catch these Regional trains at either track 1 or track 2 at the Regional Train station in the airport, located under terminal 1, B-1. Follow the signs.

Hello - We have 4 non-refundable train tickets on the train from Frankfurt airport to Stuttgart main train station for tonight, departing Frankfurt at 21:20, arriving in Stuttgart at 22:40.
Can anyone tell us if the this train is affected by the strike? Can we expect it to be running?
Thanks very much for any help with this.

Check current information at www.bahn.com. It currently shows this train as being cancelled. The ICE at 20:53 is running (at this time). The next train is an ICE at 00:28 showing delays of up to 15 minutes.

Does anybody know how far in advance they usually announce the strikes? I'm assuming they will strike again soon as nothing has been settled.

Just go to a Bahn ticket counter and show them your ticket. It's normally non-refundable, but if you can't take the train due to their fault, they will but you on a later (different) train.

Since you are leaving from the airport, are you coming in on a flight shortly before the train? If so, making the 20:53 ICE might be iffy. The next running connection from the Fernbahnhof looks like an ICE at 00:28, getting to Stuttgart at 3:20. However, there is an S-Bahn from the Regionalbahnhof to the Frankfurt Hbf at 21:47, where you catch ICE 1173 at 22:05. There is a 13 minute change in Karlsruhe (23:08 - 23:21) to RE 19553, getting to Stuttgart just after midnight. The connection in the Frankfurt Hbf is rather quick, so you might want to take an earlier S-Bahn from the Regionalbahnhof if you can.

Jo, looks like they decided not to end the strike early afterall?

The strike is over.

There are always train cancellations for one reason or another. If your train is cancelled, or really delayed to the point that you are going to miss a connection, just go to the DB service counter and get your tickets stamped and you can then ride any other train instead.

"The strike is over."

I'm pretty sure that Jo means, "This week's strike is over." As of yet there is no Bahn/drivers union agreement. There are no scheduled negotiations, according to today's news reports. The drivers union boss (Weselsky) said this morning that he thinks an agreement can be reached before Christmas. But neither he nor anyone else has ruled out future strikes, which will likely continue to threaten normal Bahn operations until an agreement is reached.

Thanks Russ. That's what I figured. We will be in Germany from Nov 29th through Dec 14th. I was just wondering how much advance notice is usually given when they plan a strike.

Advance notice for recent strikes has been somewhere in the range of 24-48 hours. The most recent strike was announced sometime during business hours on Tuesday for a 4+ day walkout to hit passenger trains at 2:00 am Thursday.

Thanks everyone. Took us a bit longer but got the last train to Fulda on Saturday night. Expected crowds but the train stations were empty. Rather an errie feeling in Frankfurt Hbf with one or two trains. Had a wagon to ourselves. When the very tired ticket taker saw our pass, he didn't stamp it and moved on. I was so tired I had forgotten to write the travel date. Guess we have an extra day of travel. Anyone been to Baumberg? Thinking of a day trip next weekend. Tomorrow off to Berlin.