‘On the hour, every hour’: Union’s calendar of chaos

The union behind Sydney’s ongoing rail chaos plans to target key politicians’ electorates, with plenty planned for the rest of the month. See the calendar here.

Sydney’s train network collapsed in a catastrophic heap yesterday, as a perfect storm of union work bans and maintenance issues caused more than 1000 services to be cancelled, delaying some services by up to six hours.

There are now warnings hospitality businesses in the CBD will need to retrench staff if the matter is not resolved due to city workers choosing to work from home.

The delays left commuters irate, with some considering changing jobs closer to home and others imploring train drivers to: “Take your pay rise and just do your damn jobs”.

And, in a petty snub to voters, The Daily Telegraph can reveal that the Rail, Tram and Bus Union plans leave commuters in Kogarah and Summer Hill completely stranded later this month by not stopping at the stations for a day, targeting constituents in Premier Chris Minns and Transport Minister Jo Haylen’s own electorates.

Escalating union work bans that also stop bodily waste like blood and urine being cleaned for an entire week.

Delayed Passengers attempt to board the train to Newcastle from Central Station. Picture: Ted Lamb

According to a calendar of chaos circulated to RTBU members, industrial action will worsen from Friday, with union members refusing to manually override a centralised system that controls the network’s traffic lights, which could spark more delays.

After claims from the Opposition that the government has lost control of the trains, Mr Minns will return from leave Thursday to help manage any disruption to the network.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union Secretary Toby Warnes claimed it was “unfair” to blame unions for the “frustrating” commuter chaos.

“Today was an unfortunate set of events,” he told ABC Radio.

New work bans are planned for every day next week, including on Thursday when members will stop cleaning “hazardous waste” – which includes bodily fluids.

RTBU members will also down tools for five minutes “on the hour, every hour,” on next Thursday and Friday.

An eight-day ban on “absolute signal blocking,” used to shut down sections of the rail network for maintenance, will begin next Wednesday.

RTBU has planned out a months worth of disruptions. Picture: RTBU

Then, on January 28, union members will ban trains stopping at stations in the Kogarah and Summer Hill electorates, unless the government gets back to the negotiating table.

RTBU members will also refuse to mop trains and platforms on January 30.

The rail network was put on an “emergency” footing on Wednesday with commuters told to find another way to travel.

As of 4pm yesterday, trains had completely stopped on the T4 Eastern suburbs and Illawarra line.

A trip from Bondi Junction to Cronulla, normally taking one hour, was taking up to six - with trains rolling into the last station 392 minutes late. At 5pm, planning app TripView said the 10.15am Bondi Junction to Cronulla service was running 420 minutes late and due to depart at 5.15pm.

Internal transport figures seen by the Telegraph revealed delays on the T1 and T9 Western and Northern lines of nearly five hours. This delay increased by two hours from midday.

Commuters hoping to catch trains home on the T2 Leppington, T3 Liverpool and T8 Airport lines faced delays of more than four hours with large service gaps between Strathfield and Leppington.

DAILY TELEGRAPH 15TH JAN 2025. Delayed Passengers waiting for the train to depart, Central Station, Sydney. Photographer: Ted Lamb

Those trying to get home to the Blue Mountains or to the South Coast faced long waits up to three and a half hours for a train as of 4pm. Only 50 buses were able to put on to support the evening commute, not coming close to making up for the hundreds of delayed and cancelled services.

The chaos began after an Electrical Trade Union work ban prevented critical maintenance taking place at Bondi Junction and Homebush, causing widespread cancellations and cascading delays across the network.

The ETU and the RTBU, while separate unions, are negotiating with the government together as part of the Combined Rail Unions.

Ms Haylen said the cumulative effect of the unions’ industrial action was “squeezing the life out of our rail network”.

She urged union members to accept the government’s “final offer” of a 15 per cent pay package, including a boost to superannuation payments.

Ms Haylen flagged the government is considering further legal action to keep the trains running.

On Wednesday, Mr Warnes claimed that his union was taking industrial action which “minimises inconvenience to commuters”. That is despite planning to ban cleaning up hazardous waste including bodily fluids, and stop trains entirely for commuters at Kogarah and Summer Hill.

Business Sydney Executive Director Paul Nicolaou warned the city would be a ghost town on Thursday, which could force hospitality businesses to lay off staff.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of businesses and commuters and they’re concerned that if this action doesn’t get resolved as soon as possible they’re going to start retrenching people,” he said.

Opposition Industrial Relations spokesman Damien Tudehope called for the government to take immediate court action against the RTBU.

“The people who are paying for this are the people of NSW, and it’s the government’s inaction in respect of its union mates which is causing these delays today,” Mr Tudehope said.