UPDATED 4.40PM THURSDAY AEDT

NSW Premier Chris Minns and a senior minister have struck a deal to avert days of chaos for millions of Sydney rail commuters.

The news the strike had been called off emerged just after 4.30pm Thursday (AEDT).

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Transport NSW had agreed to a key union demand – for trains to run 24 hours this coming weekend.

The agreement also allows for intense negotiations over the pay deal at the heart of the dispute.

“I’m hopeful that the two weeks of intensive bargaining reaps an agreement,” Minns said.

Earlier, with trains from Newcastle to Wollongong and across Sydney due to come to a halt from Friday morning until Sunday night, Minns and his Transport Minister, Jo Haylen, sat down with six unions and peak body Unions NSW for crisis talks.

It was the third straight day that Minns had been personally involved in trying to solve the months-long impasse resulting in escalating work bans amid an escalating pay dispute between the state government and rail workers.

“All arrangements are on the table,” Minns told Question Time on Thursday.

“We want to get to a point where we minimise disruption for the people of NSW.

“If there’s something we can do this weekend to get an agreement, of course, we would do that.”

Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland said commuters should plan for the worst, if the strike went ahead.

“A million people each day rely on our services across Sydney and industrial action of this scale would be very, very inconvenient,” he told the ABC on Thursday morning.

“Avoid any unnecessary travel. Roads will be very busy. Other public transport modes will be busy. It will be a very difficult period for commuters.”

The opposition criticised the government for holding meetings day after day, rather than thrashing it out in one go.

“I can’t understand why you wouldn’t have stayed there yesterday all day until you got a deal done, until you got this sorted out,” opposition transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward told Sydney radio 2GB.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union state secretary Toby Warnes previously said the government was opting to stop trains rather than meet the union’s demand for 24-hour rail operations.

“We have given them the ways and the means in which they can run trains this weekend … they are again choosing not to do that,” he said.

Services did run around the clock last weekend to ward off stop-work bans. However, transport officials had said that maintenance disruptions made that unsustainable long-term.

The unions rejected an offer to run one key line – Strathfield to Hornsby via Central – around the clock.

The planned action came against a backdrop of the union’s demand for 8 per cent pay rises annually.

The government says anything more than 11 per cent across three years is unaffordable.

Transport for NSW said it was working to offer emergency transport options if rail services did not run – while Sydneysiders have been urged to work from home on Friday if possible.

Rideshare operators will limit surge pricing but fares will be higher than usual in some areas such as entertainment precincts to attract drivers.

Light rail services on Saturday will run a Friday timetable with more frequent services.

The Sydney Metro will run more frequent services on Friday but is mostly closed for maintenance at the weekend.

A “major event bus plan” is being developed to get people to Sydney Olympic Park, where Pearl Jam will play a concert on Saturday.

The plan will be confirmed before then but will not be able to cater to all usual routes or capacities.

Four A-League games are also scheduled for the venue at the weekend.

If the last-ditch talks fail to come to a resolution, trains will halt from 4.15am Friday.

-with AAP