Buses, trams and underground trains stood idle across most of Germany on Friday, marking the culmination of a week of staggered public transport strikes triggered by disputes over working hours.

The walkouts, organized by the Verdi union, have affected 14 of the country's 16 states, including Berlin. They were scheduled to end in the capital at 2 p.m. but extended into Saturday elsewhere.

Adding to the potential turmoil, the actions coincided on Friday with climate protests calling for greener transport in more than 100 cities, organized by Fridays for Future and other green campaign groups.

This marks the second wave of near-nationwide public transport strikes in recent weeks called by Verdi, representing about 90,000 employees from over 130 municipal companies.

Verdi has stated that current talks over public transport workers' contracts have stalled as it pushes for reduced working hours and more leave.

Berlin's public transport operator BVG has described the strike action as "unnecessary and completely exaggerated."

Faced with persistently high inflation, Europe's largest economy has witnessed a number of strikes that have also impacted air travel and railways.

Commuters could soon face more industrial action on the railways after weeks-long talks between the GDL train drivers' union and Deutsche Bahn collapsed on Thursday evening.