Traveling to Germany by train will become more difficult in the coming days. Starting Wednesday, no ICE trains will run to the eastern neighbors for six days, NS reports. Also, the intercity route to Berlin does not work.
Furthermore, there are no Nightjet trains to Austria and Switzerland from Tuesday to Sunday.
The reason is train workers' strikes. The actions taken by German transport company Deutsche Bahn were announced by the rail union GDL in a long-running fight over higher wages and shorter work weeks.
The strikes will begin at two in the morning on Wednesday and continue until six in the evening on Monday. It is the longest operation undertaken so far in the struggle between GDL and Deutsche Bahn.
NS says that tickets to and from Germany with travel dates from January 24 to 29 can be used flexibly on all Deutsche Bahn daytime trains until February 5. Furthermore, passengers can cancel their tickets for free or change them to another date, after February 5.
Due to expected crowds at customer service, travelers can cancel their tickets by phone up to one month after the original travel date, NS said. The travel plan will be modified as soon as possible.
ICE trains run from Amsterdam to Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich and more. They also go via Germany to other destinations such as Zurich and Vienna.