MUNICH (dpa-AFX) - The number of passengers and commuters on trains fell by more than half during the rail strike in mid-January, according to a cell phone network operator. From January 10 to 12, there were 56 percent fewer people on the rails than in the same period of the previous week, the telecommunications provider Telefónica Deutschland (O2) announced in Munich on Wednesday, citing an anonymized data analysis of its cell phone users who had travelled at least 30 kilometers. The data from the O2 network was extrapolated to the total population, namely to 653,100 train journeys per day.

It should be noted that in the comparison period seven days earlier there were still school vacations in most federal states. However, according to O2, the vacations did not have a significant effect on these figures.

During the period under review, the strike by the German Train Drivers' Union (GDL) brought rail traffic to a standstill in many areas. Only a fifth of long-distance trains ran, while regional services were affected to varying degrees. Some of the people who decided not to travel by train switched to cars or buses: In this segment, the number of journeys registered by radio cells rose by 4.1 percent to 8.3 million per day, according to the data, which was 340,000 more than in the same period last year.

All in all, according to the study, there were five percent fewer cell phone users on the roads and railways, with around 500,000 journeys registered per day. The GDL has once again called on its members to strike, this time for six days until Monday. However, the work stoppage only affects the railroads - companies outside the DB Group want to keep their regional trains and suburban trains running as normally as possible./wdw/DP/zb