Public transport and roads impacted by strikes in Germany this week

Industrial action means certain public transport services and roads will be disrupted between February 17 and 19. Here’s what commuters need to know:

Transport strikes in Hamburg and Bavaria

Ver.di, one of Germany’s largest trade unions, is currently negotiating pay rises on behalf of around 925.000 public sector workers, including transport employees.

As such, the past weeks have seen transport employees across Germany take part in different strike actions. This week, local transport association employees in Hamburg and Bavaria will strike.

In Hamburg, transport employees will take part in a “rolling strike” between February 17 and 19. This means that different U-Bahn and bus services will come to a standstill at short-notice over the three-day strike. 

On February 17, Hochbahn bus services will be impacted. You can check the Hochbahn website for information about which services are disrupted. From February 18 and on the morning of February 19, HVV services will also be impacted. Locals should check the HVV app or Hamburg city website for updates.

The HVV strike is due to end at 3am on February 19, though there may be a slight delay until services resume as normal on Thursday.

In Bamberg, Bavaria, Stadtwerke buses will also be impacted by strike action and carnival celebrations. There will be no bus services between 1pm and 4pm on February 17 due to carnival street closures. On February 18, buses will run on a limited emergency timetable between 6am and 8pm.

Remember, while U-Bahn services, trams and buses are run by local transport associations in Germany, S-Bahn services and regional trains are run by Deutsche Bahn, so are not impacted by this week’s strikes.

Autobahn employees will also strike

Anyone hoping to avoid public transport disruption by driving should consider that Autobahn employees in Germany are also taking part in a “Streikwoche” (strike week).

Depots on the following routes on the Autobahn will be impacted on February 17: Göttingen, Braunschweig, Bremen and Hanover, Munich (Rosenheim, Siegsdorf) and Freiburg (Rottweil, Efringen-Kirchen), areas in North Rhine-Westphalia (Duisburg, Wünnenberg, Gelsenkirchen), Thuringia (around Erfurt) and Saxony-Anhalt (Weißenfels).

On February 18, important road tunnel control centres will be closed. This will mean disruptions on the Rennsteig, Hochwald, Alte Burg and Berg Bock (A71) route and the Emstunnel in Lower Saxony (A31).

On February 19, employees at the Elbtunnel control centre in Hamburg plan to strike, meaning traffic will be limited.