Nationwide strike to shutdown German public transport on Monday

Ver.di has called on German public transport workers to take part in a nationwide strike on Monday, February 2, 2026. Here’s what passengers need to know:

Public transport strikes called in Germany

On Monday, buses and trains run by 150 local transport associations across Germany will come to a standstill, with the exception of services in Lower Saxony. Over the course of the day on Friday, transport employees in Hamburg will decide whether to take part in the strike.

Public transport users in all other federal states and city states, including Berlin and Bremen, should expect severe disruption or no services to run between 3am on February 2 and 3am on February 3. 

Regional trains and S-Bahns will still run in many cities and towns, since these services are generally run by Deutsche Bahn, not local public transport associations.

Why are German transport workers striking?

Ver.di, one of Germany’s largest trade unions, represents around 100.000 transport employees and is currently negotiating on their behalf with transport associations.

The union is demanding that weekly working hours and the length of shifts be reduced, that rest periods between shifts be increased and that employees receive higher allowances for working night-time hours and during the weekend.

These employees are covered by a collective bargaining agreement (Tarifvertrag). Collective bargaining agreements are agreements made between unions and employers about employees’ working conditions and wages. Because economic circumstances change, these agreements have a limited validity period, usually a year or slightly more.

In 2025, collective bargaining agreement negotiations and strikes took place between January and late March, when local transport associations and ver.di agreed that transport employees would receive a staggered pay rise.