As of: March 8, 2024, 1:01 p.m
By: Felicitas Breschendorf
Comments
Press
Split
The strikes by Deutsche Bahn are causing discontent among passengers.
Will public transport soon be available to everyone down there?
Another strike by the train drivers' union (GDL) is over.
The wave of strikes at Deutsche Bahn seems to have no end, which is causing dissatisfaction among passengers.
The car, a more environmentally harmful alternative, could become more popular as a result.
BuzzFeed News Germany
, a portal from
IPPEN.MEDIA
, asked two traffic experts for their opinion.
The rail strikes prompted many people to switch to cars at short notice - this time too.
“On Monday, demand for rental cars in Germany recorded a significant increase,” said the booking platform Check24.
“On a nationwide average, 368 percent more rental cars were booked than in the previous week.”
More on the topic: Always just strikes? An expert answered this question
Could this number of car drivers continue to rise as a result of the strikes?
The question arises as to whether some Germans could permanently forego the train due to the ongoing strikes.
The Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA) recently reported an increase in the number of cars to over 49 million.
Could the strikes cause this number to rise further?
Oliver Schwedes, transport scientist, expressed his assessment to
BuzzFeed News Germany
: "I don't assume that the strikes will have lasting consequences." He cites the pandemic as a reference point: The slumps in Deutsche Bahn's traffic have not led to a permanent change , but are now back to the level before Corona.
This is an article from
BuzzFeed News Germany
.
We are part of the
IPPEN.MEDIA
network.
Here you can find all articles from
BuzzFeed News Germany
.
“Acceptance in society for the strikes is too high”
Jürgen Follmann, civil and environmental engineer and researcher in the field of traffic planning at the University of Darmstadt, shares this opinion.
He doesn't believe that more people who previously took the train or bike will suddenly decide to use the car.
His reasoning: “The acceptance in society for the strikes is too high to result in long-term changes in the choice of means of transport and disadvantages for climate protection.”
There is frustration, but especially with regard to the Deutsche Bahn company.
“Deutsche Bahn simply ignores its problems.
This goes down poorly with society, which is well aware of the shortcomings that have existed for years.
On the other hand, we have respect for Claus Weselsky (the GDL chairman, editor's note) for how he stands up for his union," Follmann told
BuzzFeed News Germany.
Just recently, Deutsche Bahn came under fire for paying high bonuses to its executives despite its unreliability.
Strikes could make Deutsche Bahn more attractive
Transport experts do not believe that the rail strikes will increase criticism of cars.
On the contrary.
“If there had been more strikes in the past, there would be more train drivers today,” says Schwedes.
The GDL should have gone on strike as early as the 1990s: “The GDL should have gone on strike when it was a matter of saving money on the railway and dismantling around 3,000 kilometers of rail.” If they had acted back then, local public transport would probably be in a better place today condition and could have persuaded more people to switch to the train.
Follmann even sees potential positive effects in the current strikes.
“Passengers suffer more in the long run from the lack of staff than from the temporary strikes,” he says.
Trains are often canceled or arrive late due to driver illnesses.
Many people therefore have a negative opinion about Deutsche Bahn.
However, if the GDL helps resolve these issues, it could generate support.
Follmann is of the opinion: “If Deutsche Bahn were more reliable, then more people would choose it.”
My news
Return transfers of social benefits: This is how much money asylum seekers really transfer to their home countries
Hubertus Heil wants a pension like in Austria: That's why pensioners in the neighboring country read more money
Pension system like in Austria: Hubertus Heil wants civil servants to pay into the pension fund
German and Chinese electric cars in the test: comparison shows who is ahead - read “These are worlds apart”.
Fashion industry under pressure: The next major German fashion chain files for bankruptcy
Traffic light law on pensions: From 2028, employees will have significantly less net from the gross reading
The editor wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at his own discretion. All information has been carefully checked. Find out more about our AI principles here.