Sydney commuters face further agony with trains to go slow on Western, regional lines
The rail union’s fight with the Minns government will escalate again this week with train drivers to reduce speeds by 23 kilometres per hour – and it’s outer Western Sydney and regional residents who’ll be hit hardest. Here’s how slow you’ll go.
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The rail union’s fight with the Minns government will escalate again this week as train drivers institute a go-slow across Sydney’s train network, precipitating yet more commuter agony with outer Western Sydney and regional residents to be hit hardest.
From Wednesday, drivers will slow trains by 23 kilometres per hour where the speed limit is 80 km/h or above, speeds which are usually reached only on the Sydney rail network beyond Parramatta in the west, Glenfield to the southwest, and on the intercity connections to the Blue Mountains, Newcastle and the South Coast.
Express services on the T8 Airport and South Lines will be slowed to 92km/h between Macarthur and Bardwell Park, while Blue Mountains and express T1 Western Line services will slow to 67km/h between Strathfield and Redfern.
The ten new work bans, which also include a ban on reinstating cancelled services and covering “live” rosters, will bring the total number of active union orders to 35.
Electronic billboards at train stations including Martin Place have been lit up with warnings about the “expected” “delays and cancellations” to come.
Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou said the latest round of industrial action is “shocking” for the business community, “who above all need certainty” that their employees will come to work on time and customers will be there to buy their goods and services.
“It is beyond doubt that Sydney’s commuters are totally fed up with this long running industrial quagmire,” he said.
“This is not good enough for our city, for our citizens or for our visitors.”
Sydney Trains has already resorted to docking the pay of rail employees who refuse to work as directed, denying more than 100 employees hundreds of dollars from their paychecks.
However, the government has not yet committed to withholding pay from workers who follow the union’s orders again this week, adopting a ‘wait and see’ approach to the next round of industrial action.
The Rail Tram and Bus Union claim 41 days have passed since Premier Chris Minns sat down with union representative for a bargaining meeting, outside of the arbitration underway in the Fair Work Commission, and that an offer above 3.5 per cent has never been put on the table.
Zookeeper and wildlife educator Tania Shackleton commutes from Penrith seven days a week, and has been forced to leave home at 3am each day to take into account the impact of union disruption.
The 22-year-old said the train strikes have forced her to reconsider her living arrangements and move to the inner city despite the associated costs, hitting out at the “sooks” in the combined rail unions over the “massive headache” for commuters.
“If (the trains) aren’t cooperative, it takes such a long time to get to work and it drains the life out of me – I don’t have that work life balance anymore,” she said.
“It’s really frustrating, especially because I’m on a tight schedule every single day and my work relies on me to be there on time. There’s tour groups I have to take care of, husbandry work for animals to do.
“Leaving Central is already really slow, so going (23km/h slower) is going to be crap.”
HOW SLOW WILL YOU GO?
There are over 50 locations across the Sydney rail network with temporary speed restrictions in place due to long-standing industrial action, but from Wednesday things are set to go even slower. Here’s how the go-slow will impact your commute.
T1 Western Line: 80 km/h areas reduced to 57 km/h. Express services reduced to 67km/h between Strathfield and Redfern.
T1 Richmond Line: No impact
T2 Leppington: 80 km/h area between Glenfield, Edmondson Park and Leppington reduced to 57 km/h.
T2 Inner West Line: No impact
T3 Liverpool Line: No impact
T4 Illawarra and Eastern Suburbs: 80 km/h areas reduced to 57 km/h
T5 (Richmond), T6 (Bankstown-Lidcombe) and T7 (Olympic Park Sprint): No impact
T8 Airport and South Line: Express services reduced to 92 km/h between Macarthur and Bardwell Park.
T9 Northern Line: 80 km/h areas reduced to 57 km/h
Blue Mountains Line: Express services reduced to 67km/h between Strathfield and Redfern.
Central Coast and Newcastle Line: 115 km/h areas reduced to 92 km/h
South Coast Line: 80 km/h areas reduced to 57 km/h
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