The 24-hour walkout follows the failure of a fifth round of negotiations, affecting rail transportation at all levels.
Austrian rail traffic has halted, affecting approximately 8,000 connections and approximately one million passengers, as workers go on strike for 24 hours after another round of pay negotiations fell through.
The strike on Monday affected all modes of transportation, from public transportation to regional services and long-distance night trains, as well as rail freight lines.
The main rail union had demanded a 400 euro ($417) monthly pay increase for the sector’s 50,000 employees. Instead, they were offered 208 euros ($217) plus a one-time payment of 1,000 euros ($1,042).
The union called Monday’s “warning strike” after a fifth round of negotiations fell through on Sunday.
The head of the nation’s rail network said services would be more or less back to normal by the following day.
“I don’t want to rule out the possibility of irregularities on one train or the other, but in general I expect that we will be back to serving our customers with the usual quality as of Tuesday,” OeBB chief Andreas Matthae told the ORF radio broadcaster.
Wedged between eight countries, including the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, and Switzerland, Austria is an important hub for European rail travel.