PARIS (AFP) — French and German commuters struggled to work Thursday as rail unions brought transport misery in strike action over pay and pension disputes.
Rail traffic in Germany faced major disruptions early Thursday as passenger train drivers joined freight services in a strike that rail operator Deutsche Bahn called the biggest in its history.
On main line tracks, around two thirds of trains were running, most of them high-speed trains. In the west of the country, half of the regional trains were operating, and in the east about 10 percent, according to Deutsche Bahn.
Commuters in the cities of Frankfurt and Stuttgart faced traffic chaos as only a third of the suburban trains were running. In Berlin, there were 20 to 40 minute delays on commuter trains.
German train drivers on freight services Wednesday began the strike, scheduled to last 62 hours, and passenger train services joined the stoppage from 0100 GMT Thursday.
Services are not expected to resume until 0100 GMT on Saturday.
The strike over the union's demands for a 31-percent pay rise represented a new peak in a dispute that has lasted three months.
In France commuters faced a second day of problems as rail unions extended a nationwide transport strike aimed at forcing President Nicolas Sarkozy to back down over pension reforms.
Even as Sarkozy appealed for an end to the stoppage, unions again shut down much of the country's rail network as well as the Paris metro, forcing commuters in the capital to drive, cycle, walk or even rollerblade to the office.
National rail operator SNCF said it expected only 150 of the ususal 700 TGV fast trains that link France's major cities to operate on Thursday.
The six rail and four metro unions announced late Wednesday that the action, which began Tuesday evening, would continue at least another 24 hours.
"So long as there are no new elements, we are for continuing the dispute," said Bernard Thibault, leader of the CGT union.
But the leader of the CFDT union, Francois Cherequem, said guarantees offered by Labour Minister Francois Bertrand meant it might be possible to suspend the strike.
His union was one of those that voted to continue the stoppages into Thursday.
Bertrand appeared to take a step towards the unions late Wednesday in a letter proposing another month of talks with rail management, but with government representatives involved as requested by the CGT.
Sarkozy had asked Bertrand to send out the letter after his minister held a series of talks Tuesday and Wednesday to try to end the dispute.
In Paris, several lines of the metro system were at a standstill while others were running at about 25 percent capacity, and rail links to Paris's airports were practically non-existent.
The government has said it will not be budged from plans to overhaul the so-called "special" pension system enjoyed by 1.6 million rail, energy and other workers.
Invoking social equity, Sarkozy has begun moves to lengthen contribution periods for these workers from 37.5 years to 40, closer to other public and private sector employees. Currently some railway staff can retire on a full pension at 50.
Singers at the Paris opera and actors at the Comedie Francaise, who also enjoy "special" pensions, forced the cancellation of performances on Wednesday.
The strike came against a background of heightened social tension in the country, with students protesting against a university reform law and magistrates up in arms against plans to reorganise the court system.
The last time a government tried to reform the "special" pensions, in 1995, three weeks of strikes and demonstrations forced then president Jacques Chirac to climb down.
But the polls continue to show strong support for Sarkozy in his showdown with the unions.
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