Train drivers for German rail operator Deutsche Bahn have started a week-long strike in a dispute over pay and negotiating rights.
The action started on Monday (May 4) for freight services and today for passenger travel.
The union GDL wants a 5 per cent pay rise and the working week to be reduced to 37 hours from 39. It also wants the right to negotiate on behalf of other employees including train stewards.
In a statement Deutsche Bahn, said: “This strike is completely inappropriate and totally over the top.
"The GDL union is going to cause massive harm to rail passengers, Deutsche Bahn and its employees, but also to the German economy."
The strike is the eighth in this long-running dispute and follows a 43-hour strike last month which led to the cancellation of two-thirds of Germany’s long-distance trains.
Deutsche Bahn employs around 300,000 people and carries around 5.5 million people in Germany a day.