Failed negotiations unleash significant delays on Sydney’s rail network

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Commuters are being warned to expect significant delays on the Sydney train network today due to industrial action. Transport for New South Wales is warning services are running at a reduced frequency across most train lines.

Transcript

00:00Impacts will be widespread, Dan, but as for how long these delays could run, they could

00:06go over the weekend and into next week.

00:09So why is this happening?

00:10Well, essentially, the Electrical Trades Union decided to cease some scheduled maintenance

00:15at Redfern and Central stations.

00:18These are both critical stations right in the heart of the Sydney CBD.

00:22And as a result, the delays are fairly widespread, as I mentioned earlier, impacting a range

00:27of train lines, particularly concerning, perhaps, is the airport line.

00:31Now, this line, obviously, really important for people who are transiting to the only

00:35major airport in Sydney to travel, perhaps, to other parts of the country or even overseas.

00:40So commuters are being warned to plan for these disruptions.

00:44They could be disruptions of about a quarter of an hour or longer in terms of each wait

00:48time because of these reduced services.

00:50I've got to say, interestingly, while there's plenty of disclaimers around Central station

00:54right here where I've been looking about disruptions, when I looked at the train boards,

00:58the wait times were fairly frequent, to be fair.

01:00They weren't too bad and certainly not as bad as we have seen in other instances where

01:05there has been different protection, protected, I should say, industrial action taken at trains

01:10across Sydney.

01:11Now, the broader context of this as well, Dan, that's worth noting is that Sydney trains

01:16have been heavily disrupted for other industrial action, too, and that was from the rail, tram

01:21and bus union who were locked in negotiations with the New South Wales government over a

01:25separate matter.

01:26Now, they've paused their actions for two weeks for negotiations with the state government.

01:30However, the electrical trades union negotiating for their workers have not paused their action

01:35and as such, these delays have come forward.

01:38For what it's worth, the electrical trades union say from the New South Wales government

01:42they want to see better pay conditions, particularly compared to field workers in other parts of

01:47the country, including Queensland, where disparities can be up to 50 per cent in wages

01:51as well as altered conditions and ensuring that all workers within New South Wales performing

01:56these duties for Sydney trains have minimum standards that are similar right across the

02:00industry.

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