Sydney Trains will operate limited services across its network on Tuesday after a total shutdown over industrial action forced tens of thousands of commuters to find alternate transport on Monday.
From 5am Tuesday, reduced services will run at a minimum of one service every 30 minutes, in a move welcomed by the train drivers' union amid a high-profile blame game with the NSW Government.
As a result, it is recommended only essential workers use rail services in Sydney on Tuesday.
"Sydney Trains encourage commuters who typically rely on the rail network to find alternative travel options, if possible," Sydney Trains said in a statement.
"These limited services are there to support essential workers and commuters who have no other options to get to where they need to go.
"To supplement the limited train timetable, 150 rail replacement bus services will also operate along major rail corridors."
Two "pop-up" commuter car parks will be established at Moore Park and Rosehill Gardens to provide "park and walk" options for some customers.
Union welcomes move, slams 'dummy spit'
Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) NSW Secretary, Alex Claassens, welcomed the NSW Government's decision stop its rail shutdown and allow trains to run on Tuesday.
"Today's rail shut down was a huge dummy spit by the NSW Government, supported by their federal counterparts. It's good to see they've now agreed to let the trains run again," Mr Claassens said, on Monday.
"We have said all along that the NSW Government could run services with our bans in place, and we are pleased that they have finally listened. Services may be disjointed, but at least there will be trains moving again.
"The NSW Government's treatment of Sydney and NSW Trains workers and commuters has been appalling for a long time, but then bringing in expensive lawyers in a bid to silence workers and then shutting down the whole rail network and inconveniencing commuters was a whole new low."
The return to services – albeit limited – comes after a late-hour government shutdown forced tens of thousands of Sydneysiders to look for alternative transport.
An ongoing dispute between the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) and the state government over pay and conditions saw Transport for NSW order all trains stop running.
Minister expects skeleton service to last until Wednesday
Transport Minister David Elliot, who insisted neither he nor Premier Dominic Perrottet had been consulted on the early morning decision to shut down the network, said he expected the limited services to run until a Wednesday morning Fair Work Commission hearing, followed by a gradual return to normal
"It's just like any other organisation, whether you're running a pub or a police force or or an airline for that matter," he told 2GB radio.
"If you don't — you were never going to get everybody back to work the next day because previous shifts have been made previous arrangements have been, have to be honoured.
"It's very frustrating for us as the government and my focus tomorrow is to make sure that we get this — we get these timetables back to as near as normal as we possibly can."
Mr Elliot defended Sydney Trains' shutdown decision but said he would be asking for a phone call in any similar future situations, no matter the time of night.
"This was an operational decision made by the head of Transport for New South Wales, Matt Longland, and he's concerned that tonight that that was his decision," Mr Elliot said.
"And of course it was made because they believed that commuters, the welfare and safety of communities would be at risk if there was no established timetable.
"And that was the that was the dispute over the course of the weekend, the interpretation of what Fair Work Australia said would be a timetable to be used over the course of the next couple of weeks.
"But I can assure you that the government isn't in the business of closing down networks willy nilly."
Warning to 'avoid rail travel
Mr Longland, the Sydney Trains chief executive continued to urge people to "avoid rail travel".
"We are absolutely focused on resolving this," he said.
"What we were concerned about was passenger safety ... there was a risk to customers due to the likelihood of delays and particularly vulnerable passengers becoming stranded."
His advice to commuters was to keep across updates before leaving the house and warned "even if we are able to resolve this issue, we will still see impacts across the network tomorrow".
Mr Longland also acknowledged the lack of notice ahead of this morning's shutdown and said the decision to pull the pin "ultimately rests with me".
"I made that decision and I stand by that decision," he said.
"We know the impacts that this has caused … but safety must come first and if we can't operate a reliable system that gets people home again then it makes things very, very difficult."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMigQFodHRwczovL3d3dy45bmV3cy5jb20uYXUvbmF0aW9uYWwvbnN3LW5ld3Mtc3lkbmV5LXRyYWlucy10by1yZXN1bWUtbGltaXRlZC1zZXJ2aWNlcy10b21vcnJvdy8wMzlhODMyNC02ZWE2LTRiZDItOTExNS03OWY1YWZmM2Y0YTnSAQA?oc=5
2022-02-21 10:22:15Z
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