Deutsche Bahn to Slash Jobs

Germany's railway employee union, Transnet, has announced the German railway system, Deutsche Bahn, plans to close 100 sales offices across the country, many of them in smaller towns. The union said that in addition to the closures, Deutsche Bahn is also planning to slash 1,000 jobs over the coming year. The head of Transnet told reporters in Berlin on Friday that the move was an attempt to iron out the effects of the rail company's poor revenue levels. The mass-circulation Bild newspaper reported that Deutsche Bahn had sales last year of just over €2.5 billion ($3 billion), falling far short of an anticipated €3.2 billion. The rail company declined to confirm the figures and issued a statement claiming that the job cuts would be made in a "socially acceptable" way. It added that the move was necessary as more and more customers were opting to buy tickets from machines or on the Internet. The union has announced action against the planned job losses.