Trains cancelled despite planned 24-hour strike being called off

CANCELLATIONS have already begun to hit the Sydney Trains network despite a crippling strike having been called off.

THE NSW Transport Minister has said he is “fairly confident” Sydney commuters will get to and from work without a hitch on Monday following the enforced suspension of today’s planned strike.

But things aren’t exactly going to plan with more than a dozen cancellations across the rail network and buses on standby in case of a lack of drivers.

Monday is likely to be a huge test for the network with many people returning to work following the summer holidays.

Rail bosses will be hoping for a smooth start to the week after they were forced to shut down the entire Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink networks on Sunday evening to move trains into position following the industrial action.

On Monday morning, some T2 Inner West line and Leppington and T1 Western line trains were running late or had been cancelled altogether resulting in waits of 30 minutes between trains. There have also been reports of axed trains on the T3 Bankstown line.

Nonetheless, the disruption looks to be less severe than what was seen last Thursday when an overtime ban saw a Saturday service introduced. The network also appears to have got an unexpected boost by many passengers simply staying at home with reports of almost empty trains, particularly on the regional NSW TrainLink routes.

@T3SydneyTrains thanks for not letting people know in advance that 1 of the #t3 trains has been cancelled this morning. Nice work. #sydneytrains

— Rod Hunt Photography (@RodHuntPhotog) January 28, 2018

Wow! Train practically empty this morning. Seems that a lot of people who had planned to take the day off for the #trainstrike today didn’t go to work regardless of it being called off. Whatever economic impact the strike was to have largely happened anyway. #SydneyTrains

— Albert 🏳️‍🌈 (@albert3801) January 28, 2018

Great start to the week thanks for the folks at #SydneyTrains Train late as usual, might as well gone ahead with the strikes. #useless

— Charles (@CharlesGundesen) January 28, 2018

Sydney’s trains are scheduled to run on a standard weekday schedule on Monday after the Fair Work Commission last week ordered unions to call off planned strike action.

Asked if he was concerned disgruntled train drivers may call in sick on Monday, Transport Minister Andrew Constance said he was fairly confident trains would run on time. “We’re heads down, tails up making sure this network settles down and people can catch their trains ... I’m fairly confident that’s going to happen given the fairly strong words of (Rail, Tram and Bus Union secretary) Alex Claassens.”

On radio station 2GB, he defended the use of overtime to make the new timetable work: “Overtime is part of the roster … it always has been, always will be and some of the drivers rely on it.

“The numbers that I’m seeing has not seen a marked shift in terms of the percentage of shifts that overtime is required to deliver the new timetable.”

Transport for NSW (TfNSW) warned the state’s trains services would begin shutting down from 6pm on Sunday. Blaming last week’s rail union industrial action the government body said the trains need to be moved into position ready for Monday morning’s peak hour.

Buses replaced trains on services that have been cancelled.

“Don’t travel unless you have to after 9pm (on Sunday),” a spokesman for TfNSW said.

There are fears of cancellations tomorrow. Julian Andrews.

“As the train network prepares to go back to the normal timetable for Monday, we’re still moving trains around to ensure they’re stabled correctly for the Monday morning peak.

“This will mean some train services end earlier than usual on a Sunday afternoon.

However, Leader of the Opposition, Luke Foley told reporters that commuters should expect cancellations on Monday.

“You have to say that further cancellations of train services are just inevitable,” he said.

“The commission can order the train drivers to go to work but there’s simply not enough drivers to deliver all of the services on the timetable.

“The Government was warned, but they didn’t heed the advice of their own experts. The minister introduced a new timetable without the resources to back it up and tomorrow we will see the full effect.

Email from #SydneyTrains CEO to all staff: "You must work as usual tomorrow." pic.twitter.com/4BweytMk3L

— Sydney Train User (@SydneyRailUser) January 28, 2018

“People are going back to work, teachers are going back to schools, all the kids are going back to school this week. If there’s another meltdown in the system like there was three weeks ago, I shudder to think how many people will be caught up in that.”

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters last week that unions “crossed a line” — in a way she had “not seen in a long time”.

Ms Berejiklian was scathing of the union’s text message poll, which was used to see whether members would accept or decline a new deal put to them yesterday — adding that members only had a short amount of time to respond.

In response to Sunday’s Fair Work Commission’s ruling, Mr Claassens said it was “disappointing the NSW Government has let it get to this point”.

“Of course we will always adhere to Fair Work Commission rulings, but a much quicker resolution to this would be for the Transport Minister to simply come to the table with a fair and reasonable agreement for the workforce,” Mr Claassens said.

Originally published as Trains cancelled despite planned 24-hour strike being called off