All long-distance trains across Germany were cancelled early Monday after members of the railway and transport union EVG went on strike, Germany's Deutsche Bahn rail company said.

The strike, which began at 5 am (0400 GMT) was due to last until 9 am, but a spokesman for Deutsche Bahn said delays and cancellations would continue all day.

The strike comes after the union, which represents around 160,000 workers, walked away from salary negotiations with the rail company on Saturday saying the new pay scale offered was too low.

Regional trains were also badly affected, Deutsche Bahn said Monday, advising travellers to postpone their journeys until Tuesday.

No trains in the south-western state of Bavaria were running at all, and in Berlin all overground, or S-Bahn, trains were cancelled from 6 am.

At the weekend Deutsche Bahn called the strike a "totally unnecessary escalation."

"Leaving the negotiating table over this offer is incomprehensible and unsettles our customers unnecessarily in the middle of the Christmas season," Human resources chief Martin Seiler said.