Train strike

A month of industrial action on NSW railways will end with workers refusing to operate most trains and commuters asked to avoid unnecessary travel.

[Trains will operate to a reduced weekend timetable](https://7news.com.au/travel/sydney-trains) for the majority of the network on Wednesday due to ongoing industrial action, with commuters likely to feel the impacts from as soon as 9pm on Tuesday. If you travel in a T2 or T3 lane you will not receive the fine usually handed out for such action. It said it would authorise the work to begin as set out in a deed of agreement between the union and government. A letter from the government to the union on Sunday said it would drop its request to make a deed for alterations dependent on a new enterprise agreement being finalised if the union abandoned Wednesday’s action. The Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) wrote back saying the offer lacked clarity and was unacceptable because it had not seen the deed and did not have the authority to make decisions on behalf of the other unions involved in the enterprise agreement negotiations. A separate fight over modifications to a fleet of mothballed Korean-built intercity trains the union believes are not yet safe to operate on the NSW rail network is closer to a resolution. “South Coast Intercity services will operate hourly between Kiama and Waterfall and buses will replace trains on the Port Kembla line between Port Kembla and Wollongong.” Buses will replace trains on the T3 Bankstown line between Lidcombe and Bankstown and the T7 Olympic Park line between Lidcombe and Olympic Park. [Bus services will also be disrupted](https://7news.com.au/travel/transport) for commuters in [Sydney’s Inner West](https://7news.com.au/news/sydney), and the T2 and T3 lanes will be [open to motorist](https://7news.com.au/travel/nsw-traffic)s as authorities attempt to push travellers from the embattled public transport network and back on to the roads. The industrial action is the culmination of a month-long battle between the NSW Government and transport unions with Wednesday’s refusal by rail workers to operate foreign-made trains. Most train timetables on Wednesday will be reduced to a 30-minute frequency, however no services will run on the T5 Cumberland and T7 Olympic Park line. All transit lanes will remain open to all motorists on Wednesday to help people get to and from work and school.

Combined rail unions say industrial action would be halted until end of September if government agrees to pay rise.

In the letter to the government on Monday night, the unions said the offer “lacks clarity and is incapable of acceptance”. Since then, the dispute has centred on the wording of a deed committing to those changes. But this week the industrial relations minister, Damien Tudehope, offered to scrap the requirement. But on Tuesday Perrottet made reference to the calls by the opposition leader, Chris Minns, for the strikes to end. On both sides of the debate, there is concern that public sentiment is turning against them. The 24-hour action on Wednesday will cause major disruption to services.

A month of industrial action on NSW trains will conclude with a 24-hour strike sidelining most trains but the rail union is promising a reprieve next month.

“It was a letter that was clearly designed for a purpose but it wasn’t designed for resolving our dispute,” he said on Tuesday. A deed for changes to the trains was negotiated further on Friday, but Mr Claassens said he had not been presented a copy to sign on Monday, dismissing the government letter as a stunt. The government sent a letter to the union on Sunday dropping its request to make alterations to the trains dependent on a new enterprise agreement being finalised, and calling on the union to abandon Wednesday’s action.

City bus drivers will strike on Wednesday, August 31 from 4am to 7am and then again from 2:30pm to 5:30pm. The strikes will impact 'region six' of the ...

Busses are supposed to be running replacement rail services between Lidcombe, Bankstown, and Olympic Park as trains will be halted on the T3 and T7 lines tomorrow. This includes the Inner West suburbs of Burwood, Ashfield, Campsie, and Leichhardt, as well as Sydney Olympic Park and Rockdale. [The Latch](https://thelatch.com.au/) and subscribe to our [email newsletter](https://thelatch.com.au/subscribe). The strikes will impact ‘region six’ of the Greater Sydney transport network. [check travel alerts](https://transportnsw.info/alerts#/metro-train) for the latest updates and use [TransportNSW’s Plan Your Trip](https://transportnsw.info/trip#/trip) service to find alternative transport options. [the NSW government fails to reach an agreement with the Rail Tram and Bus Union](https://thelatch.com.au/nsw-sydney-train-strike-today/).

Commuters across Sydney are being warned to work from home where possible as industrial action by bus and train drivers disrupts public transport services.

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union will return to the negotiating table with the state government today, and Transport Minister David Elliott is expected to take part. "The train are not part of our union and we don't have any say or anything to do with what goes on with the trains," he said. "This ends today. "We've spread the available trains that we've got to run very thinly across the rest of the network," he said. "If there is any other industrial action, until that EA has been voted on, we will immediately seek to terminate the current agreement and we will remove the inner city fleet from that agreement." The latest round of industrial action comes as the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) and the government remained locked in negotiations for a new enterprise agreement (EA).

NSW Transport Minister David Elliott is hoping to reach a resolution with rail unions following an escalation of industrial action this week. Area-based strikes ...

“We’ve got about three-quarters of our trains that won’t be in service today. "If there is any further industrial action until that EA has been voted on we will immediately act to terminate the current agreement and we will remove the Intercity fleet from that agreement. Both have failed to reach an agreement over a new pay deal or come to terms on details to modify the state's new intercity train fleet. Both the RTBU and TWU are also planning to hold a series of stop-work meetings on Thursday between 4am and 7am and in the afternoon between 2:30pm and 5:30pm. More than 1,000 Bus drivers have also walked off the job, due to a strike led by the Transport Workers Union (TWU) over work and pay conditions. Thousands of Sydney commuters have been left stranded as both bus and rail workers walked off the job on Wednesday morning.