Sydney trains to shut down from Thursday to Sunday, disrupting millions of commuters

• The duration of the rail network shutdown has changed since this article was published. For the most up-to-date information, read our latest article.

The NSW government has warned millions of commuters face disruption should the Sydney passenger rail network shut down for three days from Thursday in a major escalation of a pay dispute with its workforce.

Transport Minister Jo Haylen said there would be “major disruptions” for commuters, urging them to avoid peak travel times during the shutdown period after eleventh-hour meetings between Sydney Trains and the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) were unsuccessful.

NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen addresses media on Tuesday.Credit: Nine

“Unfortunately, at this stage, the information before us indicates that those services will not be operating between Thursday and Sunday this week,” she said.

“We need to be very clear here: this will cause major disruption to the millions of people that rely on these services.”

The RTBU has threatened a ban on any work by its members unless the government runs 24-hour rail metropolitan and intercity services from 10pm Thursday through to 6am Sunday. The slowly intensifying industrial impasse has been seen off by the government recently after they temporarily ceded to union demands.

While the dispute will throw Sydney into commuter chaos if a resolution can’t be reached before the bans kick in, travel will be even more difficult this weekend as the M1 metro line between Chatswood and Sydenham is closed for planned major maintenance.

Metro services will run as scheduled on Thursday and Friday.

Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland said that if the shutdown proceeded, it would be the worst for Sydney’s rail network in living memory.

It will easily surpass 2022 when transport authorities decided to shut down the city’s rail network for a day due to fears that protected industrial action would compromise rail safety. About a million people travel on Sydney’s trains every weekday.

Industrial action was avoided last weekend after NSW Labor agreed to the RTBU’s demands to run 24-hour train services under work bans that came into effect on Thursday and another that reduces staff availability amid escalating industrial disputes over pay and conditions.

A 12.30pm video meeting between Sydney Trains representatives and the union on Tuesday failed to break the deadlock. During the negotiations, the union was presented with a plan that partially met their demands for 24-hour services by keeping trains running through the early hours from Strathfield to Hornsby via the CBD in exchange for dropping the ban.

The union’s state secretary, Toby Warnes, accused Haylen and Longland of “being disingenuous with their comments” and blatantly refusing to negotiate.

“The reason we won’t lift the bans at this stage is ongoing frustration with the government for not sitting down at the negotiating table,” he said.

Warnes said the last bargaining meeting was on Wednesday last week, and talks with the government about 24-hour services had “pretty much been negotiating through the media”.

“The public … should only hold us responsible for the shutdown on the Friday and the Saturday night, and only to the extent that they understand or that they believe that the government can’t actually run 24-hour services,” he said.

Transport for NSW is considering what alternative services can be provided over the three days, with secretary Josh Murray saying his department was looking at collaboration with Uber and taxis, along with bus and ferry capability. The latter, he warned, would already be running at their usual capacity.

Haylen stressed there was still an opportunity for the union to come to the table before Thursday. Earlier on Tuesday, she told commuters to brace for widespread delays this week.

“We have respectfully asked the unions to withdraw these bans,” she said.

“These bans make it harder and harder for us to operate our train network, and it does mean that passengers should expect disruption later this week. That could involve a complete stoppage of operations across the rail network.”

NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said: “The Minns Labor government’s failure to control their union mates will leave commuters stranded and the city in chaos yet again.”

The government has urged commuters to make alternative transport arrangements, with information provided by Transport for NSW through warning signs across the train network, transport apps and information pages.

The deadlock is the latest in a series of disputes over a pay deal that the RTBU and five other unions have been negotiating with the government for the past six months.

Labor has offered the 14,000 rail workers across NSW wage increases of 3.5 per cent in the first year, 3 per cent in the second and 3 per cent in the third, lower than the union’s demand for a 32 per cent pay rise over four years.

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