A meeting between the rail union and Premier Chris Minns has not been able to resolve an industrial dispute which is set to cause the entire Sydney train network to shut down.
Service cancellations are still on track to go ahead on every Sydney train line this weekend, starting from Friday, following a meeting with the premier.
“While no agreement has been reached, we have agreed to continue talks tomorrow,” the NSW government said this afternoon.
The union is demanding 24-hour transport on weekends and says it will keep industrial action going until the demand is met.
Earlier today, Secretary of the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) NSW Toby Warnes blamed the NSW government for the disruption, claiming it chose to shut the network down between Friday and Sunday instead of running the 24-hour services.
“The reason we planned 24-hour transport is because we didn’t want to disrupt commuters in Sydney,” Warnes said.
“It’s really disappointing that the government has chosen instead to shut the network down seemingly just to make a point.
“It’s only two or three extra services [per line] every hour between 1am and 4am in order to avert any industrial action taking place this weekend.
“It’s not us making that choice.”
The shutdown is scheduled to go ahead from Friday to Sunday morning.
Trains will be running as normal tomorrow.
Warnes said that there was never any industrial action planned for tomorrow, despite Transport Minister Jo Haylen announcing services would be cancelled.
After a 5.30pm meeting yesterday, Transport for NSW said the RTBU had agreed to run regular train services tomorrow – but the union said there had been no changes to their plans.
“We went through [with them] it line by line and confirmed that our action was never going to take place on Thursday in any aspect,” Warnes said.
“Any suggestion that we changed our industrial action is a falsity.”
An additional 80 special event services to Olympic Park for a Pearl Jam concert will still run as planned tomorrow.
Additionally, from today, intercity train services will be affected by industrial action and planned trackwork, with trip reductions and cancellations.
Transport for NSW said it will affect people travelling to and from Newcastle, the Central Coast, the Blue Mountains, the Southern Highlands, and the Illawarra.
The Metro will also be closed this weekend for trackwork unrelated to the industrial action.
The union is meeting with the government this afternoon and says it hopes to solve the dispute before major disruptions take place on Friday.
Some bus services are being organised, but numbers will be limited.
People are advised to find alternative transport where possible, give themselves plenty of travel time, and to plan their journey online before setting out.
Transport for NSW said Sydney Trains and NSW Trains were committed to finding a solution for the workforce.
The union is demanding 24-hour services run every weekend, as well as a better pay agreement.
Source Credit: 9 News Sydney