Commuter chaos in Germany due to rail strike over pay

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A train sits in the empty station in Nauen, west of Berlin, Germany, Monday, Dec. 10, 2018. The train traffic collapsed German-wide following a strike on Monday morning leaving thousands of commuters stranded. (AP Photo/Ferdinand Ostrop)

A short-term strike by train workers Monday led to commuter chaos in Germany, with hundreds of delays and cancellations.

Rail operator Deutsche Bahn said the four-hour strike that began at 5 a.m. affected more than 1,400 trains nationwide, hitting long-distance traffic and also metro rail systems in Berlin, Munich, Hannover and Frankfurt.

The EVG labor union called the so-called "warning strike" to put pressure on Deutsche Bahn after wage negotiations broke off Saturday without an agreement.

A new round of talks is set to start Tuesday in Berlin.

EVG negotiates for some 160,000 Deutsche Bahn employees and also represents bus drivers and others.

The union had been seeking a 7.5 percent pay rise, and has rejected Deutsche Bahn's counter-offer of a package worth around 7 percent including a one-off payment and staggered increases over 29 months.