Sydney train chaos all comes down to an extra five minutes per shift for drivers, roster reveals
FIVE minutes’ overtime a day — that’s the issue at the heart of the industrial squabbling that has caused Sydney’s rail chaos. Secret roster modelling completed by Sydney Trains has revealed the precise impact of the new timetable on drivers.
NSW
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FIVE minutes’ overtime a day — that’s the issue at the heart of the industrial squabbling that has caused Sydney’s rail chaos.
Secret roster modelling completed by Sydney Trains and obtained by The Daily Telegraph has revealed the precise impact of the new rail timetable on train divers is, on average, an additional five minutes per shift or an extra 8km driven per day.
The Sydney Trains statistics also show not a single driver has worked more than 12 days in 14, despite repeated union claims this practice was behind their desire to strike, and that there were just 10 extra pre-scheduled overtime shifts per day across the entire network.
The new timetable introduced last year delivers about 1500 extra services per week, with the impost repeatedly cited by the union as the reason for industrial action as they fight for a better pay package.
Rail Tram and Bus Union boss Alex Claassens last night dismissed the modelling as “absolute rubbish”, saying services had to be cancelled when train drivers refused to work overtime days during industrial action.
“I know we are working more hours. I make these statements based on what my members tell me.”
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The new modelling comes just over a week after the union was thwarted in the Fair Work Commission from launching a full strike that would have cost Sydney $100 million. It reveals:
• The average increase in total hours worked per day by any driver is five minutes in paid overtime under the new timetable;
• Drivers are working an average shift of eight hours and five minutes, up from eight hours under the old timetable;
• There are 74 paid overtime shifts out of a total 682 shifts per day, up from 64 paid overtime shifts out of 653 shifts per day;
• Drivers now drive an average of 132km per shift, up from 124km; and
• Drivers can now work 3.6 hours of presheduled overtime per week under the new timetable, up from 3.1 hours per week.
Asked about the secret modelling yesterday, a spokesman for Sydney Trains said: “Sydney Trains drivers have played an integral part in the delivery of the 2017 timetable.”
Mr Claassens said last June the new timetable was “the straw that broke the camel’s back”. As the union threatened to strike over a new pay deal, he repeatedly pointed to the new timetable, stating his gripes were about conditions, not pay.
Last night he said he’d had “plenty of conversations with people saying they are doing unreasonable overtime”.
“I don’t get shown documentation because they hide it. I don’t know what’s fact or fiction,” Mr Claassens said.