Berlin - Transport Strike
 

Hi

I'm off to Berlin on March 22 for the day.

According to http://www.spiegel.de/international/...540698,00.html it looks like there is a (albeit, slim) chance that the transport strike will still be on.

What's the current situation like? Is it hard to get around? I'll be flying into TXL.

Even with the strike going on, the effect is limited. The TXL bus ran from Tegel to Hauptbahnhof even during the strike days and you had access

• to the Ring-S-Bahn at Beusselstraße and
• to all other S-Bahns at Hauptbahnhof.

The S-Bahn is not hidden by the strike. Taxis are plentyful.

The initial strike ended yesterday in Berlin. However, it started up again today. The BVG is reporting that the current strike is mostly affecting the buses--the trams and U-Bahn are running on a fairly stable schedule. There will be canceled buses, but apparently they still have ca. 80% of their scheduled buses running.

So, right now, it shouldn't be too bad.

The TXL bus is part of the "emergency schedule", so it runs even during a full-on strike. As mentioned, it gets you from TXL to the S-Bahn at various points. The S-Bahn (urban/sub-urban rail) is operated by the Railways and thus not affected by the strike; you can get around the entire city on it easily.

I was there over the weekend. Like others have said, the S-Bahn is unaffected, which gets you to a few key spots around the city. Not sure how things will develop for the U-Bahn (I didn't even know the strike was back on) but make sure you take a comfortable pair of shoes if you want to venture any further afield...

Having spoken to a few people while I was there, it's by no means 'business as usual'. Bars & restaurants etc. are a lot emptier than usual as punters stay away.