Healthcare worker abandons commute to work after 2.5 hour wait

A healthcare worker at St Vincent’s Hospital was forced to abandon her commute to work on Wednesday, after it took her more than two hours to go two stops towards the city.

Elizabeth Foley was unable to work today due to the cancellations from trains in Sydney today. Picture Thomas Lisson. The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 15 January 2025

A healthcare worker at one of Sydney’s busiest hospitals had to abandon her attempts to reach work after she spent two-and-a-half hours on trains but “got nowhere”.

In just one example of the how the Rail, Tram and Bus Union’s ongoing industrial action is affecting essential workers, St Vincent’s Hospital pathology technician Elizabeth Foley “gave up” after a chaotic commute that included commuters yelling and “running like crazy”.

Commuters were faced with train delays and cancellations due to union action. Picture Thomas Lisson

Ms Foley, from Rockdale in Sydney’s south, said a peak hour commute to the Darlinghurst hospital usually took her about 30 minutes.

However, during the industrial action on Wednesday, it took her two-and-a-half hours to go just two stops towards the city.

Industrial action caused mass delays across the network. Picture: Newswire/ Gaye Gerard

“I didn’t end up getting (to work) as after two-and-a half hours, I gave up,” Ms Foley said.

The chaos at Rockdale meant she and many others had to catch a train back towards Hurstville, in an attempt to get on the express line into the city.

“People ran like crazy for the trains and you could not squish any more people on them,” she said.

After waiting 25 minutes at Hurstville, Ms Foley finally got on an express train.

However, the service did not live up to its name.

“It sat on the platform for 15 minutes and it continued to stop and start,” Ms Foley said.

Healthcare worker Elizabeth Foley was unable to get to work on Wednesday due to the strike action.

“We then got to Banksia, and then they said they were going to open the doors (but) it took off again and then sat between there and Arncliffe for 15-20 minutes.

“Then it stopped at the station where it wasn’t supposed to.

“People started yelling and got off the train, and, at that point, I just thought ‘I’ve got to get out of this box with all these people’.

”After two-and-a-half hours of trying to get into the city, she called it a day was forced to use annual leave to make up for her loss of income.

“I’m not particularly happy about it, considering I spent so long on trains and got nowhere,” she said.

Originally published as Healthcare worker abandons commute to work after 2.5 hour wait