Chaos on Sydney Trains as track repairs cancel services on day of state election

Eager NRL fans have been left in the lurch as Sydney Trains services have been cancelled, with travellers facing long delays due to ‘urgent track repairs’.

Sydney commuters are facing long delays as train services were suspended on NSW election day.

Eager NRL fans are outraged as they struggled to make their way to Sydney Olympic Park, in the city’s west, before the kick-off of the Rabbitohs v Sea Eagles game on Saturday night.

Sydney Trains revealed urgent signal repairs at Homebush caused major delays and cancellations on one line as crowds gathered at the city’s Central station on Saturday afternoon.

The T5 Cumberland line has been completely cancelled for the remainder of the day and no replacement buses have been made available, with travellers being told to use other lines.

Trains from Central out to western Sydney have been delayed on Saturday due to urgent track repairs. Picture: NCA NewsWire

Meanwhile, the T8 Airport and South line as well as the T3 Bankstown line are both facing major delays.

All commuters are being asked to allow extra travel time, or delay travel if possible.

“Delays will continue until end of service tonight,” Sydney Trains have said.

“Delay travel if possible, consider using other transport or make your own travel arrangements.”

Many have taken to Twitter to complain about the delays, with one saying they’d vote for whoever agreed to fix the transport problem in NSW.

“Sydney trains are so f***ed … I don’t know when I’m going to get home,” one person wrote.

One man questioned how the city had such a bad train system, with signal failures “every second day”.

“Stuck on a train. Joy. I’ll vote for any party that maintains the service,” he wrote.

Trains are not running for the rest of the day due to urgent signal repairs at Homebush

Replacement buses are not available at this time. As an alternative, use T1 Western & T2 Inner West and Leppington Line trains to complete your travel

Delays are expected to continue tonight pic.twitter.com/uoRNgX5zmK

— T5 Sydney Trains (@T5SydneyTrains) March 25, 2023

Another Twitter user said: “There’s no way Sydney Trains are down again?”

One person said they’d been stuck on a train for two hours, while Sydney Trains has issues a warning asking travellers to allow extra travel time.

“Stops may change and journey times will be longer. Please allow extra travel time,” Sydney Trains said in a tweet.

NRL fans are particularly outraged with the service delays specifically affecting travel out to Sydney Olympic Stadium for a game between the Rabbitohs and Sea Eagles.

Sydneysiders are asking whichever government is voted in on Saturday to make trains a major priority.

“For a second time this month all Sydney Trains are at a standstill. Whoever the new government will be has a number 1 task,” one man wrote.

Crowds have gathered at Central station as a result of the train issues. Picture: NCA NewsWire

Train issues have been a divisive topic of the state after a bitter dispute with the Rail, Tram, and Bus Union led to multiple strikes and commuter chaos throughout much of 2022.

Confusion ensued when train officials kept station gates open, encouraging travellers to not pay for transport, with the government threatening to fine people who didn’t tap on.

The clashes related to pay and safety concerns over a Korean-built fleet of intercity trains, which the union argued was not safe to operate, with a furious Mr Perrottet threatening to terminate the multibillion-dollar enterprise agreement.

Tensions were finally quashed this year when the majority of rail workers backed a new enterprise agreement. In turn, workers were promised increased parental, bereavement and carers leave and a 2.53 per cent pay increase to May 2023, plus a 3.03 per cent increase to May 2024.

In unfortunate timing, Sydney commuters were reminded of the train debacle earlier this month when the entire rail network came to a halt due to a communication systems fault.

While trains resumed about an hour later, crowds were stuck at train stations, with delays continuing into the night.