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IN IMAGES: Who is affected by the public transport strike?

Rachel Loxton
Rachel Loxton - [email protected]
IN IMAGES: Who is affected by the public transport strike?
There was overcrowding on S-Bahns services due to the strike. Photo: DPA

Public transport passengers in Berlin, including those travelling to airports, have been facing disruption on Monday during a full day strike by BVG staff.

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The vast majority of underground (U-Bahn) trains, trams and buses are not in operation today during the industrial action by  'Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe' (BVG) employees.
 
 
The strike started in the early morning and was to last for the whole day in the third – and toughest – of the BVG strikes this year. There was a previous half day strike in February, and a strike by bus drivers in March. As well as Berliners, lots of tourists are affected, too.
 
 
Some people joked on social media that the strike might have been a cruel April Fools' Day prank.
Buses and trams remained in depots, while most U-Bahn gates stayed locked, as travellers were forced to find other means of transport to get to work or travel through the city.
 
 
 
 
The strike has created problems for people travelling to Berlin's airports, especially Tegel, which is difficult to reach without BVG transport. The Berlin Airport Service said it would offer an irregular emergency shuttle service from Jungfernheide S-Bahn station.
 
But many people walked the route to Tegel, in the north of the city.
The Berlin Airport Service said the walking route to Tegel would take about 40 minutes.
Others were creative with their forms of transport, such as this man who got on his skateboard to get to the airport.

Lots of people walked to work in the sunshine, got on their bike – or even ran to get some exercise in.

"Commuting to the job and doing exercise," said this Twitter user.

Some people took to social media to say they stood with the strikers.

"Happy to be affected by the BVG strike, full solidarity with the strikers," said this Twitter user.

BVG employees were out on the picket line in the morning. The dispute is over pay and conditions.

There have been traffic jams in the capital as lots of commuters switched to cars. Berlin transport information network said in some areas there were 45 to 50 minute delays on the road. Drivers were urged to plan more time for their journey.

Although there were busy S-Bahn trains during rush hour, some people said stations, such as here at Alexanderplatz, were eerily quiet. Perhaps people were avoiding all public transport.

Union Verdi said the offers from the employeers to the 14,600 staff of the BVG and its subsidiary Berlin Transport (BT) were not good enough.

The BVG has previously said strike action is "completely inappropriate".

 

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[email protected] 2019/07/30 03:12
me my motorcycle and open roads

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