Sydney commuters are enduring a second day of chaos as rail unions create more disruptions as part of their pay dispute.
An estimated 40 per cent – about 1,500 rail services – were cancelled or significantly delayed during peak hour on Wednesday morning.
More disruptions were experienced on Thursday, with reports that 130 services had been cancelled before 7am.
Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland said two more days of industrial action has been planned, with disruptions set to worsen from Friday.
Mr Longland explained disruptions on Thursday were caused by the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) refusing to undertake critical maintenance at Bondi Junction and Homebush
The lack of maintenance caused risks with the signal system, which prevented trains running on safety grounds.
‘We’re asking everyone to plan ahead, if you need to travel [on Thursday] keep up-to-date with the latest information,’ Mr Longland said.
While separate unions, the ETU and the Rail, Tram, and Bus and Union (RTBU) are working together as part of the Combined Rail Unions to negotiate terms with the government.
An estimated 40 per cent – about 1,500 rail services – were cancelled or significantly delayed for up to six hours during peak hour on Wednesday morning
The RTBU has also planned its own industrial action for the next two days, with Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink advising commuters to expect delays.
‘Industrial action will include speed bans on train services, impacts to infrastructure maintenance and inspections, and bans impacting how incidents are managed in the Rail Operations Cetnre,’ Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink advised.
Drivers will deliberately slow down on the tracks – cutting speeds by 23km/h on lines where trains usually travel 80kmh/h.
Union members said they would refuse to manually override the system that controls the network’s traffic lights as part of its planned industrial action on Friday.
Meanwhile, new work bans will also be introduced including a strike on ‘hazardous waste’ – adding to an already stressed rail network.
Workers will stop cleaning waste, including bodily fluids such as urine and blood, from Thursday and every day next week.
RTBU members will also drop their tools ‘on the hour, every hour’ for five minutes next Thursday and Friday.
From next Wednesday, the union has planned an eight-day ban on ‘absolute signal blocking’ which is used to close sections of the tracks for maintenance.
Frustrated commuters crammed into the few trains that were operating on Wednesday after about 1,500 services were cancelled or significantly delayed
The ETU and RTBU have warned commuters industrial action is set to intensify, with more work bans planned for the rest of the week
On January 28, trains will not be stopping at Kogarah and Summer Hill stations for a day, leaving commuters stranded.
The ban is a direct message to Premier Chris Minns and Transport Minister Jo Haylen as it targets constituents in their own electorates.
RTBU member’s will also stop mopping trains and platforms on January 30 as part of the industrial action.
The union has refused to lift its work bans unless the government resumes negotiations.
The union has remained firm in its demands, calling for a significant pay increase, a 35-hour work week and a 1 per cent increase to superannuation.
The NSW government offered the union a 15 per cent pay rise over four years, including a one per cent superannuation, on Tuesday.
Transport Minister Jo Haylen said the industrial action had squeezed ‘the life out of our rail network’ and urged union members to accept the ‘final offer’.
However, the offer was less than half the Combined Rail Union’s demands of a 32 per cent pay increase over four years.
The ETU said it was ‘disappointed’ with the proposed offer, while the RTBU claims the state government has stopped negotiations entirely.
‘It is clear that the government’s strategy is to drag this dispute out for longer than necessary in order to sway public opinion against the unions,’ the RTBU said in a statement on Wednesday.
‘The ball is in the government’s court. It can choose to take us down the legal avenue again and waste tens of thousands of dollars or they can meet with the union and finally put an end to this dispute.’
The unions have threatened to not lift the work bans unless the government resumes negotiations
Transport Minister Jo Haylen urged union member’s to accept the government’s ‘final offer’ of a 15 per cent pay rise – despite it being less than half the RTBU’s demands
By 6.30am on Wednesday, hundreds of train services had already been cancelled, with many more delayed, causing significant disruption as hundreds of thousands of workers tried to get to work.
Commuters were urged to find alternative ways to work, as the train network was put on an ’emergency’ footing.
Trains on the T4 Eastern suburbs and Illawarra line had completely stopped from 4pm yesterday.
Meanwhile, a one hour trip from Bondi Junction to Cronulla was taking up to six hours, with trains arriving at the last stop 392 minutes lates.
The 10:15am Bondi Junction to Cronulla services was running 420minutes late by 5pm, with the service expected to depart at 5:15pm, according to transport planning app TripView.
As at midday, the T1 and T9 Western and Northern lines were heavily impacted, running about seven hours late.
T2 Leppington, T3 Liverpool and T8 Airport lines also faced significant delays of more than four hours, with major service gaps between Leppington and Strathfield.
Commuters on the Blue Mountains and the South Coast faced up to three and a half hour delays.
Only 50 additional buses were put on to alleviate the evening commute but were not enough to facilitate the hundreds of people affected by the cancellations and delays.
A wild storm which swept through Sydney on Wednesday evening added to the commuter chaos, leaving a number of stations without power including Cabramatta, Flemington and Lidcombe.
There was also flooding at Town Hall and several track failures at Shellharbour Junction.
