Sydney’s public transport has been thrown into chaos today, with all train services cancelled.
A breakdown in talks between the NSW Government and the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) has resulted in all services on the Sydney Train lines and intercity RailLink line being cancelled.
Transport for NSW have said the decision is the result of industrial action, however the RTBU say the planned industrial action wouldn’t impact commuters and the trains have been cancelled by the government in “retaliation”.
The government and the union have been exchanging blows this morning, with Premier Dominic Perrottet branding the situation a “coordinated attack” by the Labor Party and RTBU.
“This is no accident. This is a concerted campaign by the unions and the Labor Party to cause mass disruption across our city. They are not even hiding it,” Mr Perrottet told reporters.
“Today is the first day we have international arrivals coming in, a day where mums and dads are trying to get their kids to school, a day when many university students are going back to class for the first time and many people as a result of our announcement last week returning to work.
“The unions were intent on causing chaos.”
The NSW premier confirmed that the decision to cancel the trains had been made by Transport for NSW, but claimed they were “left with no alternative in terms of safety”.
He said he was incredibly disappointed with what has occurred this morning, saying the union’s wrong interpretation of the decision made by the Industrial Relations Commission is to blame for the action taken by Sydney Trains.
“This is a concerted, predetermined campaign by the union movement,” he said.
“You cannot treat the people of our great state in this way and it is very, very clear that this is the Labor Party in bed with the union movement to cause mass disruption.”
The decision to cancel the trains was made just before 2am, meaning commuters who rely on the train services have been left scrambling to find alternative transport.
RTBU NSW Secretary Alex Claassens made it clear on Monday morning that the cancelled trains was not the result of a worker strike, branding it a “dummy spit” from the NSW government.
Speaking at a press conference at Central Station, Mr Claassens said when staff turned up for work this morning, they were told by management that the trains had been cancelled.
“You can imagine the shock this morning waking up and knowing that the government had just done the most low and dastardly thing you can imagine the government doing. They have locked out their workforce and they have inconvenienced the people of NSW just because it was going to be a little bit difficult,” he told reporters.
At this stage no train replacement buses have been organised to help commuters, with people being told to find their own alternative transport arrangements.
The impacted lines include the Airport and South Line, Bankstown Line, Blue Mountains Line, Central Coast & Newcastle Line, Cumberland Line, Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line, Hunter Line, Inner West & Leppington Line, North Shore Line, Northern Line, Olympic Park, South Coast Line, Southern Highlands Line and the Western Line.
Ferry and Light Rails services are understood to be operating as usual.
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