German train drivers' strike in third day
German train drivers entered the third and final day of their strike today in a dispute over pay.
The short-term strike, due to end at 1am Irish time tomorrow, hit commuters and industry alike.
Volkswagen reported that some 10,000 new cars were stuck at its Wolfsburg plant awaiting trains to deliver them, while shifts at an Audi plant in Brussels were cancelled because trains delivering parts from Bratislava were stuck in Germany.
Passenger drivers started their strike early yesterday , while freight drivers walked off their jobs midday Wednesday.
The strike marks an escalation by the GDL union after it staged a 42-hour walkout against freight services last week but left passenger trains running. Previously, it had staged several strikes against commuter trains.
The action by GDL has affected millions of commuters, with only a third of regularly scheduled trains running in greater Berlin, Frankfurt and Stuttgart, Deutsche Bahn said.
Roughly 20% of all commuter trains in the former East Germany were running, while half of trains in the former West were circulating as normal, according to the train operator.
