Commuters across Sydney could benefit from free fares on trains every Friday until June as the Rail, Tram and Bus Union uses industrial action to “force” the NSW government to offer free fares.
Sydney’s rail network has been thrown into chaos for weeks, suffering from storm damage as well as industrial action hindering services.
However, commuters could be given some slight reprieve with RTBU secretary Alex Claassens pushing for the “free fare Fridays”.
Mr Claassens told media the push comes after the government chose to shut down the entire train network on February 21.
The industrial action is set to be similar to what the government blamed for making the network “unsafe” last month – a claim the union continuously denies.
Mr Claassens is urging Premier Dominic Perrottet and his government to “own up” for disrespecting thousands of workers and commuters.
“We’re now calling on the government to give everybody a fare free day, every Friday, until June,” he said on Tuesday.
“If they don’t do that we’re going to take industrial action that will force them to.
“We’re going to put on a range of measures, and as soon as the government announces a fare-free day on Friday we’re going to withdraw that.”
Mr Claassens hopes the move will bring more people to Sydney’s CBD and believes the government is set to announce a similar measure.
He warned the planned industrial action could disrupt multiple services.
Commuters across Sydney were told on Monday to prepare for delays due to industrial action planned by the Electrical Trades Union, which stops any members from doing certain maintenance across the city’s train network.
The planned action could lead to parts of the network coming to a halt, with the impact growing the longer it is in place.
RTBU said it had decided to stand in solidarity with the ETU.
Cancellations and delays are still occurring across the network as a result of last week’s storm damage, with Transport for NSW assuring crews are working “around the clock” to assess issues and carry out repairs.
Commuters are being told to expect more delays and “gaps in service and cancellations” this week as a result of the damage.
A Sydney Trains spokesman said commuters were being told to plan their trips.
“Customers should plan ahead by checking transport.info and the alert sections on live apps,” he said.
Peak-hour chaos was sparked on Monday afternoon after thousands of Sydneysiders were met with major train delays after the metro stopped moving.
Three services on the North West Line were stuck from 4.30pm to 6pm due to a “communication failure”.
“Sydney Metro deeply apologises to customers affected by disruption to Sydney Metro North West this evening,” it said in a statement.
“The delays were not acceptable and a full investigation into the causes of the incident will be undertaken with service operator Metro Trains Sydney.”
Urgent repairs were also required at Town Hall, with passengers on the Inner West Line, Bankstown Line and Airport and South Line facing massive delays.
The T1 (Western and North Shore Line) was also struck by an operational issue at Central, causing further delays.
Travellers on the Central Coast and Newcastle Line on Monday night also faced a 40-minute delay to their train after a person stood on the tracks at Cardiff.
Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland said ongoing industrial action could lead to the network “suffering”.
“There will be a point where equipment, such as substations, overhead wiring and track points, cannot continue to be used if those maintenance activities have not been performed,xjmtzyw” he told The Daily Telegraph.
“If the bans continue indefinitely, this could progressively result in safety issues on the rail network and growing portions of the network unable to be operated.”
Mr Longland says commuters should not face many disruptions this week.
