‘Leave now’: Sydney train delays expected to worsen

Source: AAP
Sydneysiders who want to get home by train have been urged not to wait until peak hour, with warnings of a chaotic afternoon and evening ahead.
More than 80 per cent of morning train services across Australia’s busiest network were delayed or cancelled on Wednesday morning, as drivers resumed their long-running industrial action while mulling a marginally increased pay offer.
The NSW government’s long-running battle with the state’s train drivers has brought a new offer of a 15 per cent pay bump across four years.
But that wasn’t enough to stop workers picking up strike action where they left it in December. Among additional work bans imposed on Wednesday was an agreement to slow trains to no more than 25 km/h.
Up to 400 services were cancelled or delayed across Sydney early on Wednesday, primarily on the T1 North Shore and Western line, T4 Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra line and T8 Airport and South lines.
One daily return Bathurst Bullet service was also cancelled, and replaced by buses between Lithgow and Bathurst.
The situation was heightened by the Electrical Trades Union refusing to carry out signal light maintenance on Tuesday night. It has signalled no change on that stance going into Wednesday night.
“As we look towards the afternoon and evening, the scenario is going to get worse in terms of train and crew availability, and we also see some inclement weather on the horizon, which may make afternoon travel even more difficult,” NSW Transport Department secretary Josh Murray said.
“We are saying to vulnerable travellers, we are saying to emergency workers or those that have critical travel this afternoon, to leave now, to make those arrangements and not rely on afternoon peak services.”
Expect delays & cancellations on Sydney Trains, Intercity & NSW TrainLink services due to ongoing industrial action.
Passengers are urged to delay non-essential travel, allow extra travel time & consider all your transport options.
Latest info ➡️ https://t.co/DDexjs9HSq pic.twitter.com/GTNxym9sNS
— Transport for NSW (@TransportforNSW) January 15, 2025
In an update on Wednesday, NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen said almost 400 train services had been cancelled by 1.30pm, with more than 1000 expected to be cancelled by the end of the day.
In addition, trains were be held at platforms for up to half an hour, with not enough crew to staff the services.
Acting Premier Penny Sharpe said Wednesday’s work bans had had “serious impacts” across Sydney for commuters and businesses.
“We’re currently looking at all of our legal options to make sure that these conditions can be rolled back and that we can get the trains back running on time,” she said.
The Minns government put its new wage offer to the union on Tuesday. It remains significantly below the four annual wage increases of 8 per cent the workers have sought.
While union officials indicated they were unimpressed with the proposal, they said disruption would be limited throughout the week while they mulled it over.
“The current wages offer … does seem a little light-on,” Rail, Tram and Bus Union state secretary Toby Warnes told ABC Radio.
“We’re a little bit perturbed by the fact that the government only managed to find 1 per cent in savings from it, and that those 1 per cent only came from job losses.
“Yhat’s obviously something we’re not extremely happy about. I don’t think 13 per cent over four years is going to cut it.”
The government had previously refused to budge from its initial, public sector-wide pay offer. On Tuesday, it said a merger between NSW’s two rail bodies and “productivity gains” – which the union expects to include 100 job cuts – allowed for the slight bump.
-with AAP