German state-run railway Deutsche Bahn and the train drivers' union GDL on Wednesday broke off talks over a wage dispute that caused major disruption late last year, raising the prospect of more strikes. "We were close to a breakthrough agreement on a basic structure for a collective agreement when the GDL rejected it without any reason," said DB board member Ulrich Weber, calling the union's behaviour "irrational". GDL rejected that version of events. The union's spokeswoman Gerda Seibert said the leadership would now discuss possible industrial action but ruled out immediate transport stoppages. Train strikes late last year affected 5.5 billion people who travel by rail each day and industries reliant on rail freight such as carmakers, chemical companies and steel producers. GDL has already secured commitment for a one-off payment of 510 euros ($576) for 2014 and wants a 5 percent wage rise for 2015 and to be able to negotiate on behalf of employees in other areas of the company, where DB said it has ceded some ground. Coinciding with a series of strikes at airline Lufthansa , the transport stoppages prompted Germany's government to draft a law to limit the power of small unions like those grouping German train drivers and airline pilots. (Reuters)