Sydney trains to run 24 hours this weekend for $1.5m

Commuters across Sydney will be able to catch trains all through the evening this weekend, amid union demands to run a 24-hour train service or face a total network shutdown.

Commuters across Sydney will be able to catch trains all through the evening this weekend, as the government prepares to give in to the rail union’s demands to run a 24-hour train service over three days or face a total network shutdown.

All heavy rail in metropolitan Sydney will run all through the day and night across Thursday, Friday and Saturday while the Minns government continues to negotiate with the Rail, Tram and Bus Union over pay and conditions.

Commuters will be able to catch a train every half-hour between midnight and 4am over the three nights.

As part of the union’s wage negotiation tactic, the RTBU had threatened a complete shutdown of the rail network on Thursday if the government did not run 24-hour services over the weekend.

Trains will run 24-hours this weekend. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

The changes will see normal timetables run during the day with a train running every 30 minutes between midnight and 4am over the three days.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen said the additional services over the three nights would cost taxpayers an extra $1.5 million, with additional staff needing to be rostered on.

Ms Haylen said the 24-hour train service prevented essential maintenance of the network this weekend and would make it harder to run services in the future.

In addition to the union’s demands to run a 24-hour service, they also have a ban on the distance train crews can travel during a single shift, making it more difficult for the government to staff the extra services required.

“While these bans are in place, they’re like a boa constrictor on our train network,” she said.

“They are strangling and making it harder and harder and will eventually squeeze the life out of the network.”

NSW Minister for Transport Jo Haylen said the 24-hour train services this weekend would cost an extra $1.5 million. Picture: NewsWire / Jeremy Piper

Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland said the timetable change had been made over a five day period, whereas it normally requires three months to organise overnight services such as those that run on New Year’s Eve. Mr Longland said as a result of the speed of the timetable change, commuters could face significant delays.

“If we have an incident on the network or a particular issue on part of the rail network, that can very quickly cascade into major delays,” he said.

RTBU NSW secretary Toby Warnes admitted the union was “taking a novel approach to industrial action”.

“Our protected industrial action is always about causing a headache for the Government, so they actually listen to the needs of their workforce; it’s never about disrupting the travelling public,” he said.

“Our call for 24-hour transport has the benefit of being a pain for management and the government, while also resulting in improved services for commuters.”

Business Sydney executive director Paul Nicolaou, who has been calling for 24-hour weekend train and Metro services has called on the NSW government to use the industrial dispute as a trial for broader reform.

“It’s a pity that it has taken an industrial dispute to be the catalyst for a trial of 24-hour heavy rail services this weekend,” he said.

“We appreciate the government will need time to ramp up 24-hour services but we also hope this weekend can be more than a one off exercise.”

NSW Premier Chris Minns said 24-hour services were unsustainable. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

Premier Chris Minns warned Sydneysiders on Tuesday that 24-hour trains were not feasible over the long term.

“We’re not in a position to make it permanent,” he said.

“When we do have 24 hour services it’s a three month ramp up and we have to recruit for those shifts, we have to make sure that we’ve got provision for extra trains but perhaps most importantly it means you can’t do maintenance during that period.

“We can do it for a little bit of time but not forever.”

While commuters get more trains this weekend, additional industrial action with Light Rail network owner Transdev will result in less light rail services over the weekend.

The action will begin from 11.59pm this Thursday and conclude at 5am on Sunday.

The L3 Kingsford line will have no services at all, with no services in the CBD, while trams will run between Central and Randwick every 10 minutes. The L1 line to Dulwich Hill will continue to run but only between Central and Lilyfield every 10 minutes.

Originally published as Sydney trains to run 24 hours this weekend for $1.5m