Chaos Expected Across Sydney Rail Network Amid Failed Talks With Union

Planned industrial action across Sydney’s train network next week will go ahead despite a late-night emergency meeting with senior ministers on Friday.

It comes as the NSW state government attempts to derail a standoff between over safety standards of the state’s new $2.88 billion intercity train fleet.

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Instead, rail union bosses have dubbed the governments submission as “basically offering a bribe” inciting workers to agree to work on the new trains, which have been sitting in storage for two years.

Rail Tram and Bus Union state secretary Alex Claassens said little has changed to address safety concerns about the fleet, instead members were offeed a 3 per cent pay increase a year.

“The sticking point for us is and always will be the safety of the rail network,” he said. “And unfortunately, what they’ve done is they’ve offered us a bribe to run the new intercity fleet the way it is without modifications.”

The prospect of major disruptions to the rail network comes as the union claims the new trains are not safe to operate as guards cannot see clearly out of them to check platforms are clear on approach and departure from stations.

The multi-billion-dollar fleet of intercity trains have been in storage for more than two at a cost of $30 million a month to the taxpayer, according to the government.

The planned industrial action comes as thousands of NSW nurses and midwives plan to strike next Tuesday, followed by public and Catholic school teachers on Thursday.

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