Free train travel in Sydney this weekend in bid to break standoff with union

The Minns government will make travel free on passenger trains this weekend in a bid to pressure the rail union to drop work bans, which will disrupt transport services to sporting events and threatens to delay the conversion of a rail line to metro train standards.

The intervention late on Thursday comes hours after the government warned that the escalating industrial dispute with rail workers would cost taxpayers $100 million a month if the standoff delayed the conversion of the T3 line between Sydenham and Bankstown.

Delays to major work on the conversion of the Bankstown line to metro train standards risks costing taxpayers $100 million a month.Credit: Kate Geraghty

Transport Minister Jo Haylen said the government was making train trips free this weekend because of the disruption facing passengers, as well as to give the works to convert the Bankstown line to metro standards a chance to go ahead.

“We’re hoping that the [Rail Tram and Bus Union] will come back to the table and lift bans to get Sydney moving this finals weekend and build the infrastructure we need,” she said.

The free travel will not extend to other public transport such as buses, light rail and ferries.

The rail union has said that it will call off industrial action if the government introduces 50¢ fares on the state’s rail network. The government has previously ruled out accepting the union’s demands for 50¢ fares, warning the cost would be borne by taxpayers.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen.Credit: Dion Georgopoulos

Earlier on Thursday, Haylen warned sports fans that they faced delays travelling by train to events this weekend due to the rail union’s work bans.

“There will be delays, and we won’t be able to provide the same level of service that we had planned,” she said. “It is a disappointing set of circumstances.”

The worst affected will be fans travelling by train to Sydney Olympic Park for the Wallabies’ Bledisloe Cup Test against the All Blacks on Saturday afternoon.

The rail union’s opposition to the conversion of a 13-kilometre stretch of the Bankstown line to metro train standards is running in parallel to a claim for a 32 per cent pay rise over four years and a 35-hour work-week.

A 12-month shutdown of the T3 line between Sydenham and Bankstown is due to start in just over a week. However, major construction will be unable to proceed until the union lifts several work bans on the Bankstown line.

After already spending $2.5 billion on the metro conversion, Haylen warned that the government would face extra costs of $100 million a month from being unable to carry out the major construction work if the dispute was not resolved.

“Everything is in place. If there are delays and there is not an agreement reached, the cost will be over $100 million a month in delays. All the contracts have been let,” she said.

Haylen said the two sides had been “very close” to reaching an agreement this week, but there were some demands from the union that the government could not accept, citing the request that a Sydney Trains qualified driver be placed on every metro train.

Earlier on Thursday, RTBU state secretary Toby Warnes said the union put a deal on the table on Wednesday night which would have prevented industrial action this weekend.

“Unfortunately, and it was late at night, the government walked away from the table, and we weren’t able to reach a deal,” he told ABC radio.

He disputed the minister’s claims that the deal involved demands that drivers be put on fully automated metro trains.

“It was a suite of measures designed to address numerous safety concerns that we have in relation to the conversion of the Sydenham-to-Bankstown line,” he said.

The union opposes the conversion due to safety concerns as, by becoming a metro service, the south-west metro rail line would run along ground level at high speeds.

Transport for NSW secretary Josh Murray said the conversion of the Bankstown line was “very complex” and involved shutting off multiple points on the T3.

“We need the union’s assistance to make that happen,” he said. “We have a big job ahead of us to convert that line. We have massive commitments in place; we have invested heavily.”

The Minns government committed an extra $1.1 billion last year to complete the Bankstown line conversion, which will form the final part of the M1 metro line.

An industrial dispute two years ago between the rail union and the then Coalition government added at least $200 million in costs to the construction of the metro line under Sydney Harbour and the CBD, as well as the Bankstown line’s conversion.

Coalition transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward said commuters were clearly paying the price for Labor’s broken promises to the union movement.

“You can’t put your head under the desk when things get tough,” she said.

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