Based on the German news article reproduced below, I concluded that the pay dispute between Die Bahn management and the Transunion-GDBA union will soon be settled.
The GDL - locomotive drivers - remains aloof and threatens more strikes.

According to the article, the negotiations started this afternoon. Representatives from both sides stated beforehand that they were confident that the chances for an agreement were good.

The Bahn put a new offer on the table which proposed to the 134,000 employees a 3.4% increase in January and a one-time payment of €450 between July and December.

The GDL, the locomotive drivers' union, refuses to participate in the Transunion negotiations. The drivers are threatening new strikes and want their own pay negotiations. Die Bahn management has so far refused to negotiate separately.

I personally think we can expect more walkoffs next week by the locomotive drivers.

Any of you have any way to judge how much pressure a settlement with Transunion-GDBA will put on the GDL to reach an agreement?

For those of you who read German, her is the full text of the article.

Berlin. Im Tarifstreit bei der Bahn wird seit dem Nachmittag wieder verhandelt. Vertreter des Konzerns und der Gewerkschaften Transnet und GDBA aeusserten sich zum Auftakt der Gespraeche zuversichtlich, dass Chancen auf eine Einigung bestehen koennten. Auf dem Tisch liegt ein neues Angebot der Bahn. Demnach sollen rund 134.000 Beschaeftigte zum
1. Januar 3,4 Prozent mehr Geld bekommen und 450 Euro als Einmalzahlung fuer Juli bis Dezember 2007. Die Vertragslaufzeit soll
zwei Jahre betragen. Die Gewerkschaften fordern sieben Prozent mehr Geld fuer ein Jahr. Sie haben Warnstreiks zunaechst ausgesetzt. Gestreikt wird dagegen weiterhin bei den Lokfuehrern. Deren Gewerkschaft GDL hat fuer die kommende Woche neue Proteste
angekuendigt. Die GDL will einen eigenen Tarifvertrag, was die Bahn bisher ablehnt.

To amend my own post. A further release in Tagesschau quoted Mehdorn, Die Bahnchef, as being not so optimistic about the pay negotiations.

One aspect of the strike negotiations that I had not seen previously was the blunt statement that if the union members received the 7% pay increase which the unions have demanded, Die Bahn would trim 8,000 jobs in order to stay price competitive.

Margarete Suckale, chief of personnel for Die Bahn made that statement in an interview with the newspaper der Welt am Sonntag. Here is the quote in German:

Bahn-Personalvorstand Margarete Suckale hatte der "Welt am Sonntag" gesagt, die Forderungen nach sieben Prozent höheren Bezügen würden 8000 Arbeitsplätze kosten.

So it sounds like the negotiation sessions that took place today might have had a few pitches thrown high and well inside.

They're negotiating right now, probably till very late at night, so all we can do is wait.

Latest update: The locomotive drivers are going on strike all over the country tomorrow (Tuesday) from 8-11 a.m. Prepare for major problems during the day.

Last update: the railway has reached agreement with Transnet-GDBA union, who will get 450 Euro once and a general pay raise of 4,5%. No agreement yet with the locomotive drivers union (GdL), who threaten more strikes (tomorrow morning, as Quokka wrote)

The pressure is now concentrated on GdL - I guess/hope some agreement will be reached before the end of the week.

I think the locomotive guys will be the ones wearing the black hats if they don't soon settle. If they disrupt commuters like they did earlier, public opinion will run strongly negative. At least that is my guess. I am not sure what proactive measures could be taken by the general public because most people would not know how to turn one of those things own and drive it out of the yard.

The good settlement that Transunion - GDBA got may well encourage the GDL to press harder for a higher settlement.

Things are getting interesting in the German rail strike. The GDL, the locomotive drivers' union, had threatened a strike for Tuesday morning at 08:00, today already in Germany. die Bahn has asked for a court injunction.

I wonder if such a legal intervention will be issued. I guess we wait for 2 or 3 more hours to find out.