More than two-thirds of Sydney’s train fleet to be wiped out

Commuters have been told to stay at home and avoid trains as a city prepares for another day of chaos on its networks.

Commuters are being warned to stay at home on Wednesday as scheduled industrial action on Sydney’s rail network will almost grind services to a halt and create major delays.

More than two-thirds of the city’s train fleet will be taken out of action when the union refuses to operate foreign-made trains for 24 hours.

Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland’s advice for the public was to avoid travelling by train if they could.

“Avoid all unnecessary travel and leave the capacity on the train for those who need it,” he told 2GB on Tuesday.

More than two-thirds of Sydney’s trains will not run on Wednesday. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dylan Coker

“Work from home or avoid the trip on the train tomorrow.”

The state government had high hopes that it could put a stop to Wednesday’s strikes after sending a list of concessions to the Rail Tram and Bus Industry Union (RTBU) over the weekend.

But after a full-day meeting on Monday, the two parties were still unable to come to a resolution.

This will wipe out all services on the T5 Cumberland and T7 Olympic Park lines.

“We expect that that will create gaps in frequency during the day,” Mr Longland said.

Commuters should expect trains roughly every 30 minutes on Wednesday.

There will be limited buses in place at Revesby, Kingsgrove, Campbelltown and Central, though not enough to match the capacity of the trains.

The NSW government and RTBU have been locked in a heated dispute over a new enterprise agreement and the union’s safety concerns with a $2.8bn intercity train fleet.

The RTBU wants the government to commit to modifying the trains by signing a written deed.

The state government and union’s dispute is still ongoing. Picture: Gaye Gerard / NCA Newswire

The government had previously tied these train alterations to a new enterprise agreement being finalised, which created tension between the two parties and drew out negotiations.

RTBU NSW secretary Alex Claassens said the government could have stopped their industrial action if the written deed had been signed.

“The government has had the opportunity on many occasions to resolve this dispute,” he said on Tuesday.

“Instead of agreeing to the deed, we’ve been forced into another round of lengthy talks rather than getting on with the job of getting a signed deed which we can take to members and delegates to consider.

“As far as the safety issues with the new intercity fleet … they had it (the deed) on June 30, they had it on Friday. All they needed to do was sign that document and we could have been standing here today talking about how tomorrow’s going back to normal.

“We have other outstanding issues in the enterprise negotiations like our conditions around cleaning and infrastructure … and then obviously the thing that everybody wants is more money.”

RTBU NSW Secretary Alex Claassens said Wednesday’s action could have been avoided. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dylan Coker

NSW Opposition Leader Chris Minns called for “cooler heads to prevail” and any future industrial action, including on Wednesday, to be paused.

“The two sides, when it comes to the deed and the latest negotiations in relation to the overseas-built new intercity fleet train, are very close,” he said.

“I think the best thing to do would be for industrial action to pause and the two sides to have an opportunity to look at what's been agreed upon, bank those agreements, focus on the things that are still outstanding and reach an agreement.

“At the moment the travelling public are the meat in the sandwich, this is causing major disruption to the communities of NSW that rely on public transport services.”

Wednesday’s industrial cannot be stopped as any changes to the rail timetables need 48 hours to come into effect.

NSW Labor Leader Chris Minns wants all planned industrial action to be paused. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Unscheduled train cancellations caused havoc on Sydney’s rail network on Tuesday despite no scheduled rail strikes.

Listeners calling into 2GB radio station before 6am reported trains simply not turning up throughout the course of the morning.

Some commuters took to Twitter to share their frustrations at the mass cancellations showing on the TripView app during peak-hour travel.

“Another ridiculous day of train cancellations,” wrote one user, showing two cancelled trains from Ashfield to Central after 8am.

#Sydneytrains@T2SydneyTrains@Dom_Perrottet@RTBUnion how can this be a normal schedule for train commuters? Only 1 train to the city during peak hour! Sydney Trains? pic.twitter.com/GLqwEPyIlB

— Miss Sunshine 🌞 (@MissSunshineLin) August 29, 2022

A commuter planning to travel from Croydon to Wynyard around 8am showed at least five services cancelled.

Mr Longland confirmed that 33 services had already been cancelled on four train lines.

“Look, the train line is operating as normal today but again we have seen trains not going into service,” Mr Longland told 2GB.

Commuters travelling on the T2 Inner West and Leppington Line, T3 Bankstown Line and T8 Airport and South Line are worst affected.

Mr Longland said he would look into reports that the T1 North Shore and Western line also had cancellations.

A Rail, Tram and Bus Union spokesman told the NCA NewsWire there was no unscheduled industrial action on Tuesday.

Another ridiculous day of train cancellations. There will be 3 trains that could get me to work on time. But guaranteed they will be so full I can't even get on them. @RTBUnion & State Govt needs to stop holding this city to ransom. Fed up with this. #sydneytrainspic.twitter.com/ezux9MRomH

— ~* Carina *~ (@trvllngjwllr) August 29, 2022

“Delays or cancellations are due to trains that don't meet the minimum safety standards being taken offline,” the spokesman said.

Negotiations between the two parties are ongoing.