Planes, trains moving again after massive German transport strike

Public transport operations in Germany, including long-distance train services and air traffic, were returning to normal on Tuesday after a massive transport strike that brought large parts of the country to a standstill.

Germany's unions put the brakes on travel nationwide on Monday as thousands of workers in airports, railways and elsewhere walked off the job in pay disputes.

Flights have now resumed at Frankfurt Airport, though the operator still called on travellers to check the status of their flight and come early in case of security delays. "It's starting to get fuller," a spokeswoman for operator Fraport said on Tuesday morning.

Some 1,118 flights, carrying 157,000 passengers, are planned for Tuesday. That includes nearly 3,800 passengers whose flights were cancelled on Monday.

However, around 40 flights were still cancelled on Tuesday due to the knock-on effects of the strike, which led to 1,000 cancellations on Monday.

Public transport in much of the country also came to a halt as part of the strike. Railways, waterways and buses were affected in seven of the country's 16 states.

Although the strike ended at midnight (2300 GMT), passengers should still expect delays and cancellations on Tuesday, a spokesperson for national railway company Deutsche Bahn said earlier in the day.

There were still some cancellations to intercity services though regional, local and cargo services were running as normal, the company said.

The 24-hour nationwide strike was called by trade union Verdi together with the EVG railway union, to push for higher wages in the transport sector amid high levels of inflation.

On Tuesday, Deutsche Bahn called on the rail and transport union EVG to return to the negotiating table following the stoppages.

"We must negotiate now and not take an Easter break," a Deutsche Bahn spokesman said. "We must come to a solution quickly at the negotiating table."

The next round of collective bargaining between DB and EVG is set for late April. Before then, the union will enter negotiations with numerous smaller rail companies.

While Verdi is negotiating for pay rises for around 2.5 million public sector employees, the EVG is negotiating new collective agreements with 50 rail companies, with some 180,000 Deutsche Bahn employees affected.

The EVG is calling for a monthly pay rise of at least €650 ($700) for all employees or 12% more income for the higher wage groups.

So far, Deutsche Bahn has offered to raise wages in two stages by a total of 5% plus one-off payments of €2,500. The EVG has so far rejected the offer.