Deutsche Bahn - possible August strike

[WillTravel]

Apparently the drivers may go on strike as of August 6.

www.db.de/site/bahn/de/reisen/fahrplaene/warnstreiks/streiksituation.html
www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/85660.html
www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,495660,00.html

I have German rail travel planned in mid to late August, but I've been procrastinating on buying a pass, although I think a pass is my best option, if there's no strike.

Should I ignore this possible strike, or make alternate plans? As of this moment, there are some flights available that are still reasonably cheap, although it means my enjoyable, relaxed train itinerary would be no more. There's also bus travel, which is of course quite lengthy.

What type of impact should I expect from this strike?

I hope no one else has firm plans based on German rail travel in August!

Of course if I am buying flights, I should probably make my decision extremely quickly.

[jennifer]

Well, if it was just me, I wouldn't buy a pass, cause they won't refund the pass in case of a strike, but if there is actually a strike, you won't buy the tickets, so no money lost although travel problems ahead.

I'd try to find Mitfahrzentrale.de possibilities or flights. But keep in mind, to get to the airport, you often need the train in certain cities!

Poor you, good luck!

[WillTravel]

The problem is if I don't buy the DB tickets now, the walkup price is ridiculously high - like 148 Euros for advance purchase right now vs. 396 Euros for walkup for one set of tickets, for example.

But it's good to know that they won't refund the pass in case of a strike. I was trying to get this info out of Rail Europe and didn't feel like I had learned much.

The Mitfahrzentrale site is interesting for sure. But I could see that certain family members would get pretty upset if I took our daughter in a car with an unknown person!

[jennifer]

Well, yes, that's true, but they'll get upset if she's stuck in Germany too You know the people you'll go with in advance. Pick a single woman. I guess it's a good enough compromise.

I understand about the prices, that sucks...

Well, I'm not 100% sure they won't refund, but in my mind, RailEurope is not responsible for the strike, so I think they wouldn't....

xox

[jennifer]

PS, are you sure this strike will affect all trains? Maybe the fast trains won't be affected... who knows

[WillTravel]

They haven't said what trains will be affected, but the union has said they will provide 24 hours notice of strike action. However, it's not clear if it's going to be an all-out strike, a series of occasional rolling strikes, or what.

[WillTravel]

I talked to Travel Cuts, from which I have a travel insurance policy. The agent was very honest and said that if I bought a rail pass, and wasn't able to use it, I wouldn't get a refund because of a strike, because the pass is valid for 2 months, even if my trip is not 2 months long. This is the case even with my insurance.

In some instances you can get a limited partial refund if the rail pass is unused, but that's not related to strike issues.

So far as I can see, if I buy the tickets online from Deutsche Bahn, and there is a strike, I will get a refund. But I may or may not be able to get where I want to go.


Edit: It appears if I don't use the rail pass at all, I can get 85% of the value back. But if I use it at all, no value back. This is unrelated to insurance.

[Eagle]

This is certainly not good news for the travelling public, especially in the middle of summer tourist season! I suspect the season had some bearing on the timing of this strike.

Let's hope the strike can be averted!

[jennifer]

This is indeed hell. I'd buy tickets with the Deutsche Bahn. I'm sure if there is a strike, bus companies will provide service, they'll be happy to make money, so at least you'll have some kind of option!

[WillTravel]

I can't find any buses that run between Cologne and Hamburg, and between Berlin and Cologne, which are my main concerns.

Plan A is to wait and see if the rail pass is a good purchase. Travel Cuts told me I could wait until the last day I leave in order to buy the pass if I wanted to do so.

Plan B is if by August 9 or 10, the strike still looks serious, to skip the train travel through Germany and take the bus west from Cologne into Belgium. Then we'd do Belgium and France instead.

I just can't bring myself to book tickets without knowing if the trains will be running, or to book flights (because we have enough flights already in our itinerary).

[herrbert]

When I check some German sites, about this then I don't think there will be a lot of information before the 6th. The strike can mean that not trains are running at all. Other options are they will have randomstrikes. It's hard to say before the meeting in which this will be decided.

I checked Eurolines but they don't seem to make the connection between Cologne and Hamburg. And I also can't find anything else. (besides flights.)

[WillTravel]

Like I mentioned in another thread, I changed our itinerary so we wouldn't have to worry about these possible strikes. Right now it looks pretty likely, although it's not clear what the initial scope will be, or whether the courts will have something to say about it:
www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=ahwttfe8GuJs&refer=germany

If you're traveling in Germany in August by rail, keep up with the strike hotline:
www.bahn.co.uk/db_uk/view/news/streik.shtml

[WillTravel]

www.spiegel.de has several articles today including one on tips for travelers. The rhetoric is pretty hot.

[drdorian]

I'm sorry i'm unfamilar with how the different trains in Europe interact.
Would a German rail strike impact other countries train travel, particularly the following routes:
Bruges-->Paris
Paris-->Geneva

I'm assuming the strike would affect these routes:
Geneva--> Munich
Munich-->Budapest
Budapest-->Amsterdam (through Koln)

Thanks for any insights. I'm going to be arriving in Bruges on August 14, with a Eurail Global pass and am freaking out a tad bit.

[WillTravel]

Bruges-->Paris - no worries, as that doesn't go through Germany
Paris-->Geneva - doesn't go through Germany

For your routes that involve Germany, it's impossible to say at this point.

I asked on another forum about possible effects, and someone mentioned that the train drivers may stop their train somewhere in the middle of the tracks, thus blocking up all traffic for hours. Apparently they have done this before. So delays are possible even if you are traveling on a German route that the rail workers have not technically struck. But this should only affect you within Germany, not outside Germany.

Did you see the strike hotline info?
www.bahn.co.uk/db_uk/view/news/streik.shtml

Just check there anytime you are about to go on a journey that involves Germany.