Good (on you) Germans

So the public transit (train) employees of Deutsche Bahn are on strike for the ninth time in the past ten months. That creates a need for reliable transport;

Car and bus operator websites have registered a four-fold increase in the number of users and three times more passengers, like bus operator company Deinbus.de. The company has also had to employ new staff to attend to the increasing number of phone calls and to help passengers with information and luggage, Jessica Masik, Deinbus' press officer tells DW.

And they're grateful to the union (GDL) that keeps calling the strikes;

Car rental companies like Sixt would like to believe that the GDL will continue their walkout. Indeed, the firm is so thankful to GDL boss, Claus Weselsky, that he's been declared employee of the month. [our bold, of course]

Bus operator Deinbus.de went so far as to name a bus after the trade union boss. "We admire Mr. Weselsky for his strong will, with which he represents his train drivers. And of course, when two people fight, the third is happy," says Deinbus' Jessica Masik. A nice "side effect" of the strike is that many commuters traveling long distances turn to bus operators in times of need, she adds.

Also, Germany has private, for profit, trains too;

"We were never a part of the strike," says Maik Seete, spokesman for Nordwestbahn and the Mittelrheinbahn (MRB). The private company's employees have not been part of the GDL strike, which only involves GDL members working with Deutsche Bahn, Seete adds.

Seete's company has earned a reputation of being dependable even when almost all of the country has been reeling under the consequences of train drivers refusing to work.

Sounds like Deutsche Bahn can be depended on too.