Berlin, May 5 (IANS): A strike by the German train drivers' union went into effect early Tuesday morning for passenger trains, leaving paralysed two-thirds of long-distance trains as well as one-third of commuter trains.

Deutsche Bahn (DB), the largest railway company in the country, provided the data at the beginning of the strike on Tuesday, Efe news agency reported.

The strike particularly affected Berlin, Frankfurt, Halle and Mannheim, according to several reports.

Commercial transport of goods came to a halt on Monday afternoon, while passenger trains had a half-day leeway until midnight on Monday.

Both services will be suspended until Sunday morning, the longest strike in German rail history, while estimates suggest that the strike could cost the industry around 500 million euros (around $554 million).

The strike, the eighth since July last year, came as train drivers' union GDL and DB failed to reach an agreement over a labour dispute, according to a Xinhua news agency report.

GDL wanted to raise train drivers' wage by 5 percent and to shorten their working hours. It was also seeking to get a right to represent other railway staff, such as stewards, in collective bargaining.

The demands were rejected by DB which suggested taking the dispute to arbitration after failures in several rounds of negotiations in the past.

About six million commuters are dependent daily on railway services in Germany and companies in chemical, steel and auto industries rely on freight trains to deliver their supplies and products.