PARIS — Transport workers shut down most rail traffic in France for a second day yesterday, frustrating passengers forced to postpone trips and Parisians who had to walk, bike, or skate to work.

The government awaited a response to its offer to negotiate a way out of the strikes — the first major challenge to President Sarkozy’s plan to modernize France with vast reforms. Mr. Sarkozy wants the strike to end “as quickly as possible,” his spokesman said Wednesday night, and offered company by company talks in the presence of a government representative to find a solution. “The president of the Republic has always considered that there is more to be gained for all parties in negotiation than in conflict,” a presidential spokesman, David Martinon, said. The strikes “must end as quickly as possible in the interest of passengers.”

[Meanwhile, Bloomberg News reported that many German passenger and cargo trains stood still yesterday as drivers continued their three-day strike to press for higher wages and better working conditions.

Millions of commuters struggled to get to work after Germany’s state-owned railway “heavily” reduced local train services, while manufacturers faced delays and production shutdowns as Deutsche Bahn AG canceled “more than 40%” of cargo traffic. “I have been waiting for an hour, and the next train has just been canceled,” Stephan Ghislain, a 28-year-old student, said at Frankfurt’s main train station. “I have no idea when I’ll get out of here.”]