Sydney Train Strike: Trains Will Completely Stop For Days This Week

New South Wales residents have been advised that Sydney Trains services will cease for multiple days this week as a part of the ongoing train strike, with the long-running dispute between the state government and the railway union continuing to deteriorate.

At this stage, Sydney Trains services will be shut down from early Friday to early Sunday.

Transport for NSW is making arrangements for the provision of alternative transport. On late Tuesday, it warned travellers to expect industrial action to impact suburban, intercity and NSW TrainLink regional services.

Service reductions and cancellations are expected on Thursday, affecting intercity passengers. 

In one of the biggest rail disruptions in NSW history, multiple major events across will be affected, including the Pearl Jam concert at Olympic Park, and A-League events.

Transport minister Jo Haylen announces shutdown

Transport minister Jo Haylen initially announced the impending Sydney train strike the day before. “As a result of the union not withdrawing their bans, I need to inform the travelling public that there will not be train services between Thursday and Sunday this week,” Haylen announced on Tuesday afternoon. 

This was then updated after an eleventh-hour meeting on Tuesday evening, pushing the shutdown to Friday morning as desperate negotiations continued.

On Monday, Haylen said that a union work ban which gradually reduces staff availability “is putting incredible strain on the operation of our network, and it is not allowing us to do critical maintenance.” She reiterated the same point on Tuesday, blaming union work bans implemented last week for potential disruptions.

“We have respectfully asked the unions to withdraw these bans. Unfortunately, they are yet to do so. 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,” the transport minister remarked.

“That could involve a complete stoppage of operations across the rail network,” she remarked hours before that outcome appeared to be set in stone.

Rising tensions between government and union

The latest train strike update comes after the government agreed last week to a demand from the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) for all-night train service over weekends. Sydney Trains has blamed that stipulation for preventing the completion of maintenance.

Sydney Trains had been attempting to keep services running, with chief executive Matt Longland remarking on Tuesday that the operator was trying to reach a compromise with the union.

“We put a proposal to the union last night so that we would be able to operate on one line. We would operate 24-hour services from Strathfield through the city to Hornsby over the weekend period, Thursday, Friday and Saturday night,” Longland said.

Haylen echoed that running services around the clock is “not sustainable in the long term, not only because of that particular ban [reducing hours] but other conflicting bans around hours available for train crew, and the ongoing hundreds of bans that are in place that are continuing to make it harder and harder to run trains.”

According to government estimates, the operation of 180 extra weekly late-night services is costing $1.5 million per week. 

Talks between Sydney Trains and the union on Tuesday were unable to stave off the disruption. Despite the mutual animosity, both the union and the government have expressed a desire for the dispute to be resolved before Christmas.

Opposition and union attack government over Sydney train strike

Opposition leader Mark Speakman blamed the disruption on the government. “The Minns Labor government’s failure to control their union mates will leave commuters stranded and the city in chaos yet again,” he stated.

Last week, the New South Wales branch of the RTBU attacked the government and the rail operators, accusing them of showing a lax attitude to negotiations.

“Contrary to the suggestion that Sydney Trains and NSW Trains are negotiating to get the bargain done, week in and week out, we have to fight to ensure they show up to bargaining the following week,” the union posted on Facebook.

“We met yesterday, and they have so far refused to lock in another meeting despite repeated requests. The lack of urgency is a real cause of alarm to our bargaining team.”

“We want this bargain finished by the end of the year, but the Government seems content to sit back and let it ride. This isn’t going to fix itself, and we need some buy in to get this done.”

Jo Haylen returned serve on Tuesday. “We want to resolve this by Christmas. The best way to do that is to negotiate, not to put bans in place. It’s unfortunate that they are yet to do so, and that’s why we’re warning passengers about the coming disruption.” 

The union accepted some responsibility for the shutdown. “Yes, the public may hold us responsible for the shutdown, but they 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,” RTBU secretary Tony Warnes remarked on Tuesday.

A similar tone was struck by the transport minister. “Nobody wants this. I don’t want this. The government doesn’t want this, the passengers certainly don’t want this. But the only way to keep our city moving is for the union to lift its industrial bans on Friday and Saturday,” Hayden said on Wednesday morning.