Sydney trains will run on Thursday after a small concession from the rail union to delay strike action until Friday, amid an ongoing wage dispute with the government.
A months-long dispute between the NSW government and the state branch of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) escalated on Tuesday when Transport Minister Jo Haylen announced no train services would run for four days.
The rail union has been increasing work bans and threatening to strike if 24-hour services weren’t available on those four days.
But early on Wednesday morning Transport for NSW said it had agreed with the union to run services on Thursday, a relief for Pearl Jam concertgoers who would have had to find alternative transport to Sydney Olympic Park in the evening.
“At this stage the RTBU has not agreed to lift their industrial action they have planned for Friday through to Sunday,” a spokesperson said.
“The notified bans in place by the union will bring the heavy rail network to a shutdown on Friday, Saturday, and through until Sunday morning this weekend.”
Haylen is hoping the concession will give the union and the government more time to come to an agreement before the weekend.
“It gives us another day to continue our negotiations and hopefully get people where they need to go,” she told 2GB radio.
“But the union industrial action is still planned for Friday and Saturday and we know that’s going to have a massive impact on millions of people who rely on these train services.”
After knocking back a proposal for 24-hour weekend trains, Haylen said the onus was on the union to drop its work bans.
More than one million people use Sydney trains on a typical day, while the ban is also expected to affect inter-city services.
Extra bus and other services will be rolled out, but the shutdown will strain the capacity of replacement transport.
The pay stand-off comes after services were run around the clock over the previous weekend to ward off stop-work bans.
Transport officials said continuing services around the clock from Thursday to Sunday was not sustainable.
The Sydney Metro from Chatswood in the north to Sydenham in the inner west is also closed for maintenance on the weekend, with Transport for NSW advising commuters to “use train services.”
