Sydney train network to shut down for 4 days amid pay dispute

SYDNEY, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) — Sydney’s trains will completely shut down for four days from Thursday as the network’s employees are set to go on strike amid a pay dispute with the state government, the government of Australia’s state of New South Wales (NSW) said on Tuesday.
The authorities warned that there will be major disruptions for millions of commuters across Sydney between Thursday and Sunday after last-minute negotiations with the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) to avoid strike action failed.
“Unfortunately, at this stage, the information before us indicates that those services will not be operating between Thursday and Sunday this week,” NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen told reporters. “We need to be very clear here: this will cause major disruption to the millions of people that rely on these services.”
The RTBU has demanded a 32 percent pay rise over four years for Sydney’s 14,000 rail workers and that the state government commit to operating all of Sydney’s train lines 24 hours per day over weekends, a move that the government says will lead to the failure of the network.
The government instead offered to run 24-hour weekend services from western Sydney through the central business district to the city’s northern suburbs, which the union rejected.
In addition to all of Sydney’s suburban lines, the shut-down will also affect inter-city trains, preventing city workers who live outside of Sydney from commuting to work by train.
The government said it would look at increasing other public transport services to compensate for the shutdown but Transport NSW said it would be unable to schedule special buses for all major sporting and music events over the weekend. ■