Please note that from Wednesday, May 20th until at least Monday, May 25th (Whitmonday, public holiday), two thirds of all German long distance trains and almost 90% of the local trains and S-Bahns will not operate.
Those of you with urgent travel plans please book your rental cars or bus tickets ASAP as prices will skyrocket in the next couple of hours.
All German national bus lines: http://www.busliniensuche.de
Rental cars meta search engine: http://cars.momondo.com
Have train reservation to Prague from Berlin on May 24 :(. Which bus company is best?
When the six-day strike ended earlier this month, the leader of the GDL said the country and rail passengers had earned "a break". Just a short break, as it turns out. Now he says, "You can assume that this strike will last a little longer." The union won't announce the end time of the strike until 48 hours in advance.
I have a bus ticket from Munich to Prague booked through DB for Thursday, May 21. Since the bus is through the DB, I assume it may not run? Or will it run because it's a bus, not a DB train? Is there a way to find out ahead of time?
Since the bus is through the DB, I assume it may not run? Or will it run because it's a bus, not a DB train?
It is the locomotive drivers' union that is on strike. I do not believe buses are affected.
Oh, ok. So it's not a DB strike. Thanks!
Another alternative might be to change hotel reservations and hunker down in some town with local bus connections to the surrounding area. That might not be a perfect choice but I have often been pleased by visiting less famous city districts, suburbs and local area hamlets. That kind of travel is tougher to research but tourist offices can help.
An inconvenience to us is perhaps a greater harm to Germans who commute or conduct business by train. The union and the company may be killing the geese that lay the golden eggs. (Is that from the Brothers Grimm?) My wife has talked about visiting England instead of Germany some spring. I always balk as the English public transportation system is so hard to understand and disjointed. Now I wonder about future trips to Germany?
During the last strike, my daughter switched to a long distance bus when her train did not run. Worked out quite well in that case. Those will be pretty full so try to prebook if you need this alternative. Use the first link Andreas provided above. It's slower than the train (especially with heavier traffic on the roads as to be expected during the strike) but also cheaper.
The RS office sent out an alert to this today to those starting their tour in Frankfurt traveling to the tour start in Trier. They said try the DB bus line, and also mentioned some private buses from Frankfurt - Flibco and Meinfernbus. Any recommendations on options here?
According to this website, there will be contingency plans in place and some trains will still be operating, albeit at reduced frequency.....
http://www.dw.de/what-the-german-rail-strike-means-for-passengers/a-18429729
The above website indicated that the information was only available in German, but I was able to change the language setting and view in English.
MeinFernbus operate a fleet of very modern busses with free Wifi on board etc. It's a bus, so don't expect luxury. But they're ok. However, they also took over FlixBus recently. Flix' busses were old and less comfortable. Somewhere deep down on the MeinFernBus website in the schedule you will find out if a certain line is operated by a genuine MFB or a FlixBus.
Also quite comfortable with free WiFi are http://www.postbus.de
DB Busses will run. Only DB trains incl. many S-Bahns won't operate. Trains running under the emergency schedule will be packed! If you're already holding a ticket DB allow you to refund it for free through the channel you booked it OR to take ANY train operating between your cities of origin and departure.
Affordable one-way car rentals rates are available e.g. on http://cars.momondo.com
So how does the luggage work on these buses? (I just reserved with MeinFern) Does it all go under the bus in storage? how do they keep track of it if so? What can you bring with you?
The strike has ended for now. The parties have agreed to mediation.
