Standstill in large parts of the Rhine-Main area: Here, too, the large-scale warning strike in public transport began early Monday morning. The impact on the road has so far apparently been limited. On the railways, long-distance traffic will be completely discontinued and regional traffic will be largely discontinued. In addition, city buses and trams in Mainz as well as Kassel, municipal buses in Wiesbaden and trams and subways in Frankfurt should not run.
The Verkehrsgesellschaft Frankfurt (VGF) said in advance: "The only public transport in Frankfurt will be the buses." However, they could not serve as a replacement for inner-city railway lines, which could accommodate several hundred passengers per train. In other Hessian regions, on the other hand, hardly any effects on local public transport are likely to be noticeable.
Obviously, however, many people have refrained from travelling to work and are doing their job mobile or have taken time off. On the motorways, the impairments remained manageable. Travel times to Frankfurt, for example from Mainz or Giessen, were still within the limits of what is usual in rush hour traffic. Only between Wiesbaden and Frankfurt was a delay of more than a quarter of an hour indicated due to a traffic jam on the A66 as a result of an accident.
Lufthansa with technical problems the day before
Airports, waterways and ports as well as the motorway company are also affected by the nationwide traffic warning strike by the Verdi trade union and the railway and transport union (EVG). According to the operator Fraport, there will be no regular passenger traffic at Germany's largest airport in Frankfurt. Ironically, on the day before the warning strike, technical malfunctions at Lufthansa had also affected check-in at the counter and boarding in Frankfurt.
On Monday, the EVG is planning a rally near Frankfurt Central Station from 6:00 a.m. The Deputy Federal Chairman of the EDC, Kristian Loroch, is to speak there. In addition to the EVG, Verdi has called for the warning strikes, the unions want to fight for higher wages in their respective wage disputes. The strike is scheduled to end at 24.00.
The entire long-distance traffic of Deutsche Bahn is to come to a standstill. Also at the DB Regio Mitte, the railway of massive impairments. Also affected are S-Bahn and regional trains in the area of the Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV) as well as in the Mainz area in Rheinhessen. Other railway companies such as Vlexx also assumed that there would be "an almost complete standstill of transport operations" on Monday, because the rail infrastructure was probably not available due to the strike call at DB Netz AG. In fact, most rail connections, for example, from Rheinhessen to Mainz and vice versa had been canceled according to online timetables.
The Hessian Ministry of Education reminded in advance that compulsory schooling also applies on Monday. "If the children can not be driven by car or otherwise come to school in the event of failures of public transport, the non-appearance in class is excused," explained a spokesman. The usual reporting channels apply.