Strike chaos in NRW: public transport paralyzed-what passengers need to know now!

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Strike in the Rhein-Sieg district: Traffic loss on February 6 and 7, 2025 due to collective bargaining in the public service.
Strike in the Rhein-Sieg district: Traffic loss on February 6 and 7, 2025 due to collective bargaining in the public service. (Symbolbild/ANAG)

On February 6th and 7th, 2025, massive warning strikes took place in the public service in North Rhine-Westphalia, which significantly impaired numerous transport companies. The call to the strike campaign came from the Verdi union after the first collective bargaining had remained with no result. These warning strikes are part of a Germany -wide protest that also affects other administrations and services such as waste disposal. The strike lasted until 3 a.m. on Friday morning and brought public transport to a standstill.

The Cologne and Bonn Verkehrsbetriebe were particularly affected. In Cologne, all the strains were completely out and many bus lines were only sporadically operated through subcontractors. The city railways could not drive in Bonn either, and here, too, bus traffic was partially restricted. Despite these massive restrictions, the S-Bahn and the regional trains of the Deutsche Bahn remained ready for operation due to their delimitation to the strikes. Tagesschau reported that the strikes also had an impact on other regions, especially in the Kleve, Wesel districts and in the western Duisburg.

affected transport companies and their measures

The effects of the strike were diverse. The Cologne Verkehrsbetriebe (KVB) and the Stadtwerke Bonn (SWB) also had limited bus traffic, in addition to the failures mentioned above. The Rhein-Sieg-Verkehrsgesellschaft (RSVG) was only possible for a few driving operations by subcontractors, but there were also delays. Stadtwerke Krefeld Mobil (SWK) put an emergency schedule into force, with several tram lines to be out of bus lines 045, 047, 049 and 062. Likewise, public transport in Mönchengladbach collapsed.

  • Cologne Verkehrsbetriebe (KVB): Stadtbahnen, partly bus operation by subcontractors.
  • Stadtwerke Bonn (SWB): Stadtbahnen fail, bus lines only partially.
  • Rhein-Sieg-Verkehrsgesellschaft (RSVG): Individual trips by subcontractors.
  • Stadtwerke Krefeld Mobil (SWK): failure of several tram lines, emergency schedule activated.
  • Niederrheinische Verkehrsbetriebe (NIAG): Several driving failures, the goal is to maintain school traffic.

background of the strikes

The strike is part of a major argument in the public service, in which Verdi demands a wage increase of 8% or at least 350 euros per month as well as additional vacation days. This collective bargaining concern affects around 2.5 million employees in the public service of the federal government and municipalities. The next rounds of negotiations are scheduled for February 17 and 18 and from March 14 to 16, 2025.

In addition to the strikes in North Rhine-Westphalia, warning strikes were also announced in other federal states, including Berlin. In Hamburg in particular, there were massive restrictions despite a partial coverage by subcontractors.

Visitors to cities such as Cologne and Bonn must therefore prepare for a continuation of the restrictions in public transport. 24rhein that will also lead to further strikes in the coming week could.

every now and then there are also tariff qualifications in the areas of local public transport. The last negotiations led to a wage increase of 200 euros for all employees in public transport from May 1, 2025, followed by a further increase of 2.8 percent from November 2025. This information is particularly important because they reflect the framework of ongoing collective bargaining and the condition of local public transport Merkur .

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