Update: blog entry about the currently ongoing S-Bahn strike (Novermber 2014)
The german train drivers’ union (GDL) just decided: train drivers will be on strike over the weekend for about 50 hours. And since Berlin’s S-Bahn is part of Germany’s rail company Deutsche Bahn this means that also Berlin’s S-Bahn train drivers will be on strike over the weekend.
Here’s some details: from tonight / Saturday morning 2 a.m. until sunday night / monday morning 4 a.m. “no” S-Bahn will be in service. I put the “no” in quotation marks because the past has shown that sometimes there actually still are some trains in service.
However – if you depend on getting from A to B this weekend, you better not rely on Berlin’s S-Bahn service – instead you better check alternatives how to travel across Berlin city this weekend.
The good news is: all U-Bahn and Trams and Busses will be in service on the regular basis. So on the one hand you still will be able to use public transport, on the other hand I have the slight suspicion that you’ll not be alone. Trams, busses and U-Bahns might be packed this weekend.
Two S-Bahn trains parked during the S-Bahn strike 2007, one train moving – near Gesundbrunnen between Wedding, Prenzlauer Berg and Mitte
What I really find a bit strange, even disturbing, is that there seems to be absolutely no information about the strike on the english edition of the Berlin S-Bahn’s website – nor or the english edition of the ‘mother house’ Deutsche Bahn. Also the english edition of the homepage of the city of Berlin seems to provide no information about the strike – and also the english edition of Berlins public transport service BVG says nothing about the strike or alternative routes. Wow.
Further reading on the 50-hour-strike can be found at The Local:
www.thelocal.de/20141018/rail-strike-cripples-german-train-users
Update: blog entry about the current S-Bahn strike (Novermber 2014)
Well… Have a nice wekkend!