Sydney Trains

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/Robert_Dow/status/951141705591304192

[ozbob]

I have just listening to interviews with the NSW Opposition Leader Foley, and NSW Transport Minister Constance on 4BC.

It does seem that the new timetable, progressive overtime build up, not enough crew, and casual sick leave are the root problems.

Almost a carbon copy of Queensland rail fail but on a grander scale! 

Also threatened industrial action issues.  Sound familiar?

Already train services MIA again this morning ..

[#Metro]

I guess they just sign Sydney Trains contract again when it comes up for renewal.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/Robert_Dow/status/951247891011522560

[ozbob]

Update:

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/sydney-trains-chaos-rail-bosses-cant-even-get-together-as-commuters-are-left-stranded/news-story/4b778aaf338819aacc1be7f30852e5e4

TRANSPORT Minister Andrew Constance has promised to "stare down" a potential train strike as workers argue for a 24 per cent payrise while the rail network grinds to a halt for the third consecutive day.

Mr Constance told 2GB radio this morning that he had no evidence linking the high number of drivers calling in sick with the pay dispute.

"I have no evidence but one thing would say to the union is this ... we want to put more trains in and the union should have the same aspiration. If they've got concerns around staffing, well give us the exact numbers," he said.

When asked if he suspected the train chaos was the result of industrial action, he said:

"Well I haven't seen any evidence yet, but I tell you what ... this week they're voting for a 24 per cent pay rise.

"There's a lot of media being done, there's not enough meetings.

"Quite frankly, yesterday they spent the day negotiating the enterprise agreement ... if this ballot comes in as a yes to strike action for a 24 per cent pay rise ... I will stare them down. ..."

The comments come after another day of train delays frustrated commuters trying to get to work....

https://twitter.com/Robert_Dow/status/951248710209454080

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/7NewsBrisbane/status/951252925283618817

[red dragin]

New timetable comes in -> union doesn't like it -> see's a chance to push it's case -> "everyone who's name begins with B, you're sick next Monday, see this Dr for a note" -> rail melt down -> our members are overworked, we want more money.

Hmmm 

[techblitz]

has the potential to dwarf QLD #railfail due to the catchup effort required....
We better get used to that word 'driver shortage' as well.
Melbourne also needs new drivers....in fact there are rumours going around that Victoria has offered up bigger pay checks.
Im going to take a rough guess and say 24% better
And its not only limited to trains.......we are not even getting into a potential upcoming pilot shortages as cashed up china poach anywhere they can to keep up with rising demand and lack of ability to train local pilots due to smog over there....

https://www.aipa.org.au/latest-news-aipa-insights-media-room/australian-pilots-land-750000-china
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/dec/28/pilot-shortage-australia-to-relax-visa-laws-to-attract-foreign-flyers

This is going to be a LOT of damage to the tourist industry if this sh%t isn't nipped in the bud & quickly...

[ozbob]

Daily Telegraph --> Sydney rail chaos: Trains bosses take home $40,000 pay rise despite slamming workers' demands

SYDNEY train bosses who have slammed a 6 per cent wage claim by rail staff pock­eted an average salary increase of 9 per cent last year.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal the average salary for Sydney Trains' top four fat cats jumped more than $40,000 — from $453,212 in 2015-16 to $495,605 in 2016-17 — well above the 2.5 per cent cap for NSW public servants.

Among them is Sydney Trains chief executive Howard Collins who claimed on Wednesday commuters would be "aghast" to know the Rail, Tram and Bus Union was seeking a 6 per cent rise.

Mr Collins is raking in bigger bucks than Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull with a salary of a whopping $695,000.

Transport for NSW Secretary Rodd Staples, the other bureaucrat responsible for writing the report on what caused this week's trains disasters, will receive an salary of $555,150 plus potential performance bonuses this year.

Transport Minister Andrew Constance yesterday insinu­ated the spike in sick days he blamed for the chaos could be linked to the union claim.

"The only thing I would say is we have operated the ­timetable for the last month- and-a-half without staffing issues and all of sudden we have them," Mr Constance said.

But RTBU NSW Secretary Alex Claassens said the comment was "ridiculous" and the pay dispute was "totally separate" to this week's problems.

He said members would be "angry" to learn $40,000 rises had been paid to executives.

"Our workers are doing more with less and they deserve a fair pay rise," he said. "No one is expecting us ­realistically to get a raise of six ... that is our starting point."

The Minister's office said only one executive received more than 2.5 per cent increase linked to their performance.

Any other rise above 2.5 per cent was for changed roles or new responsibilities.

Mr Constance last night defended Mr Collins' pay packet describing him as the "Tube man". He said his salary had increased to reflect the fact he was now also working as acting chief executive of NSW Trains as well as Sydney Trains.

"I don't think the union is going to begrudge someone a salary change if their job role changes," he said.

"This is a man who everyday is responsible for the safety of millions of commuters and running the railway."

He said the union needed to understand the 2.5 per cent wage cap was in place "for very good reasons" and they couldn't demand a 6 per cent blanket increase.

When asked to explain why an executive was given an ­increase above 2.5 per cent for their performance he said he "wasn't across the detail".

[ozbob]

Service cancellations still occurring.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/Robert_Dow/status/951521459796549634

[#Metro]

Looks like years of restructuring, etc have come to nought.

A very simple principle: if an operator does a bad job, you fire them.

The ability to reproduce the qld problems in a completely different system, carbon copy, is

just mind blowing!!

I suspect ministerial directives played a role, with the operator pushed to make live a timetable due to the minister's insistence.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/smh/status/951702970722340864

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> Sydney rail workers vote to take industrial action over pay dispute

Thousands of Sydney rail workers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of protected industrial action over pay, ranging from overtime bans to a full-scale strike, raising the stakes for the city's already overstretched rail network.

About 84 per cent of Sydney Trains staff who cast their ballot voted in favour of strike action of a week or more – if that is in fact the next step unions decide on in the dispute – while about 73 per cent of NSW Trains workers did likewise.

The votes by Rail Tram and Bus Union members in favour of less disruptive action such as handing out union flyers was even stronger in the ballot which closed on Wednesday.

Rail unions have been pushing for a pay rise of 6 per cent a year over the term of a new four-year agreement covering about 9500 railway staff.

It is more than double the 2.5 per cent annual increase Sydney Trains has put on the table, leaving the two sides at loggerheads six months after negotiations began.

Rail Tram and Bus Union state secretary Alex Claassens said the outcome of the vote meant the option to take various forms of protected industrial action was "now live but we are still very hopeful we won't have to go down that path".

"Industrial action is always a last resort. Management are in a position to avoid that situation, and we're still very hopeful they'll come to the table and negotiate a fair and reasonable offer before we get to the point of action," he said.

"It's important to stress that at this stage, no action is being undertaken. Commuters will always be given as much notice as possible of any action."

The threat of a strike comes as the state's top rail officials warn Sydney's rail network will face another test on Monday when trains begin running through a junction at Hornsby in the city's north following a major engineering upgrade.

Sydney Trains boss Howard Collins has described Hornsby as the "busiest, most complex railway junction in Australia" and warned of the pressure on already stretched resources its reopening to trains on multiple lines will have on Monday.

The vote caps off a a horror week for Sydney Trains and commuters after the city's network was thrown into chaos on Monday and Tuesday.

Rail workers will have to give Sydney Trains management seven days' notice of any industrial action.

Transport Minister Andrew Constance has warned union bosses against disrupting Sydney commuters by striking or "covert industrial behaviour" to gain an annual pay rise well above the government's cap on public sector wages of 2.5 per cent a year.

"I urge the union bosses to put the needs of Sydney Trains customers first before unnecessary strike action," he said.

Train drivers earn a base salary of $75,000 in NSW. However, the government emphasises that the average salary is $113,000, when taking into account superannuation, allowances and penalty rates.

[verbatim9]

Oh no! ️

[brissypete]

I still remember a bit over 10 years ago now there was a QR pay dispute and a lot of sick leave cancelations particularly on Fridays. Of course nothing official but as soon as the new pay agreement was made the health of drivers improved significantly.

Sent from my G8141 using Tapatalk

[tazzer9]

I still remember a bit over 10 years ago now there was a QR pay dispute and a lot of sick leave cancelations particularly on Fridays. Of course nothing official but as soon as the new pay agreement was made the health of drivers improved significantly.

It's clear the extra pay was put towards private health insurance and better medical care. 

[SABB]

'I still remember a bit over 10 years ago now there was a QR pay dispute and a lot of sick leave cancelations particularly on Fridays. Of course nothing official but as soon as the new pay agreement was made the health of drivers improved significantly. '

Also happened Christmas Day 2016. More than 30 drivers unexpectedly called in sick.  It just so happened that the Driver's EBA was being discussed at that time. I think that all of the other QR EBAs had been finalised.

[ozbob]

If it quacks like a duck, waddles like a duck it is ....... RAILFAIL#2

REDUCED FREQUENCY of services due to unexpected crew changes.
Buses have been organised to supplement trains.
Please see staff or ask us for assistance. pic.twitter.com/J7U9O5Wanx

— T6 Sydney Trains (@T6SydneyTrains) January 13, 2018

https://twitter.com/T6SydneyTrains/status/952067265033310208

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/T7SydneyTrains/status/952068947645554688

https://twitter.com/T1SydneyTrains/status/952062666570371072

Many more ...

[ozbob]

The Telegraph --> Sydney train chaos caused by three perfectly placed lightning strikes

IT WAS three strikes and Sydney's rail system was out this week.

While the state government, the opposition and the union have been blaming each other, this was the reason for the rail chaos that enraged Sydney this week.

Three lightning strikes, placed perfectly, tipped an already teetering system over the edge.

The first strike was 4.45am on Tuesday, between Lindfield and Gordon on the T1 North Shore Line. It turned the signals red and halted seven trains that were moving into position for the peak-hour commuter rush.

The second strike at 8.10am damaged circuit equipment at Penrith, prompting half-hour delays to four trains on the T1 Western Line.

The third strike, shortly afterwards, hit the Sefton Park railway junction, knocking out power around Yagoona. It caused delays of as much as an hour for 13 trains and forced the cancellation of five other services.

Throughout the day engineers were sent across the rail network to manually reset signalling equipment.

"As we fixed those things and started to recover — with perhaps less than an ideal number of drivers available to jump on trains where other people were late — we just had difficulty getting the service ready for the afternoon," Sydney Trains chief Howard Collins said.

Mother nature hit again at 4pm, this time on the Illawarra line, sparking flooding and circuit damage.

It all added up to thousands of passengers stranded at Wynyard, Town Hall and Gordon.

The problem was exacerbated by a variety of supplementary reasons, including many people returning to work that week.

Wynyard is particularly vulnerable to crowds since the northern beaches buses run out of there, instead of Central.

Unleaded petrol prices are also high, averaging $1.40 a litre, with premium petrol at least $1.55, motivating people to catch the train instead — especially after family budgets took a beating over Christmas.

As well, widespread planned trackwork meant everyone catching trains on those lines had to do so in the narrow "peak hour" window, rather than patronage being staggered before and after the rush period.

According to Sydney Trains, there were less drivers available because 73 were off sick on Tuesday, 11 more than the same time last year and 33 more than Sydney Trains had expected.

The challenging new timetable left the system unable to catch up on itself.

This new train timetable, introduced on November 26, increased services by 13 per cent, Mr Collins claimed.

But it also meant the window for carrying out repairs to trains or tracks when something went wrong narrowed.

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union, who had already voiced concern about the new timetable's ability to bounce back from an incident, scoffed at any suggestion the driver shortage was linked to industrial action.

It also disputed the sick leave figures, instead claiming only an extra 10 drivers were off sick.

"There were 50 drivers who called in sick, only an extra 10 more than usual," RTBU NSW Secretary Alex Claassens said.

Elizabeth Maxwell, 22, was making the hour-long journey home to Camden from her work in Chatswood on Tuesday evening.

But train delays, jam packed stations and extra stops meant the commute took two and a half hours.

"The train timetable has been good so far but the last month, it has been chaotic," she said.

"It doesn't seem very consistent, even trains towards Glenfield, they will get cancelled or delayed and I can miss my connecting train."

Michael Burgess, 49, squeezed onto a packed carriage at St James, after two scheduled trains never showed, just before 5pm.

He said people were so crammed together it become an occupational health and safety issue.

"I have travelled on trains a lot here and around the world and Sydney Trains generally they provide a very good service.

"It is these exceptional events where things just happen, in their control or out of their control, that makes it very difficult."

Sydney Trains said it started recruiting more drivers, who are required to undergo 12 months of training, last year, knowing it needed 100 additional drivers to run the new timetable.

Mr Collins said he warned the government "things would be tight" with the new schedule but agreed the network would be ready for it in November.

More services were cancelled or delayed on Wednesday, with rail bosses attributing the third consecutive day of woes to a broken air pipe on the T8 Airport Line.

Lightning notwithstanding there are still plenty of alterations and cancellations happening ...

[Stillwater]

'due to unexpected train crew changes' .... better than TransLink's 'operational issue' explanation

[MichaelJ]

Obviously I can't say much because I'm an employee of Sydney Trains and member of the RTBU.

I can, however, confirm that no form of action has been taken and that the team (crew, operations, rostering, etc) are working to the best of our ability with the available resources.

Personally I have forgone two days off this fortnight to keep the trains moving for our passengers.

[ozbob]

Thanks MJ.  Good job!

[MichaelJ]

Forgot to add, I had a Trainee with me for the entire week and they'll graduate along with another 15 (the others in their class) soon.

[ozbob]

 

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/JakeSaulwick/status/952402280375988226

[ozbob]

If it quacks like a duck ... 

[ozbob]

Daily Telegraph --> Sydney train commuter chaos set to continue as new drivers join rail network

COMMUTERS should prepare for more disruption and delays tomorrow with a train driver shortage and a major railway junction reopening poised to cause chaos.

After 14 days of remodelling, the Hornsby railway junction will reopen tomorrow.

Sydney Trains boss Howard Collins likened the process to performing open-heart surgery on one of the busiest and most complex railway junctions in Australia.

"My experience is when you commission new stuff, it's very complicated," he said.

"There could be delays through that area as we bring in the first trains and drivers use them for the first time."

Mr Collins said there would also be a shortage of spare drivers available to swap with those on shift.

"Before you travel on Monday, check what is happening, make sure we are getting that smooth run through Hornsby," he said.

Rail staff have been adjusting to a new timetable that has significantly increased services for commuters but put pressure on staffing and infrastructure on the network.

Transport Minister Andrew Constance, who was warned about the timetable concerns from rail bosses, asked for a review of this week's meltdown from Sydney Trains hierarchy.

Mr Collins expects the ­review will highlight the need for more drivers on standby and better infrastructure to deal with the increased train services.

In the wake of this week's debacle that left thousands of commuters crammed on platforms or late trains, Sydney Trains hopes a boost in driver numbers and better infrastructure will eventually help avoid a repeat of the debacle.

But, before a report into the painful few days is completed and handed to Mr Constance within two weeks, rail staff are bracing for more trouble.

[ozbob]

Daily Telegraph --> Sydney train delays: All aboard the excuse express

YOUR train is late but, as recompense, at least part of your fare is refunded. You also have the satisfaction of seeing the management announcing that they sincerely regret what happened and even publish a seven-page apology. No prerecorded "regrets" here.

Surprise, surprise, this is not happening in Sydney.

But, if we want to avoid a repeat of the "Train-ageddon" that has gripped Sydney's shambolic ­system this week, it needs to happen.

Japan is rightly held up as the gold standard because trains running later than one minute are the source of apologies and angst. Meanwhile, Britain's various rail companies have a policy of "delay repay", where you get refunds for shabby service.

In Sydney, you get a prerecorded apology and a refusal to refund any money because apparently the network needs every cent to keep running, albeit badly. The government blames the union, the weather and even God, while the union blames the sniffles, the timetables and the lack of pay.

Incidentally, if the union thinks that striking will win them sympathy with commuters, they are on the wrong track ­entirely. Their dispute is purely about money, so linking that to questions over staffing and timetables is, at best, disingenuous. Besides, paying them more won't fix the problems we suffered this week. Let's face it, if excuses were trains, we'd all be able to get a seat.

The time for excuses is over. One way to stop this happening again is to put repercussions in place. Following the lead of other countries, refunds for disadvantaged travellers should be the minimum.

Trains running on time, or in this case showing up at all, should be properly measured and tied to the financial fortunes of those who run the network.

Both the Government and Sydney Trains have been allowed to just shrug this off as an unavoidable inconvenience. And, while the God and the weather did indeed play a part in our transport perfect storm, there was a clear lack of planning, forward thinking and preparation by the authorities.

The government was warned there weren't enough drivers or proper infrastructure to cope with the new timetable once the holiday period was over and yet they went ahead with it anyway.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/Robert_Dow/status/952417685442240512

[#Metro]

Trains running on time, or in this case showing up at all, should be properly measured and tied to the financial fortunes of those who run the network.

But it doesn't work in a public system! Government self-fining is meaningless!

Hitting rail bosses with wet lettuce would be more effective.

The government was warned there weren't enough drivers or proper infrastructure to cope with the new timetable once the holiday period was over and yet they went ahead with it anyway.

What's new? New timetable would look good, so it happened. Carbon copy of the Brisbane case. Ministerial directive pathway.

Completely recreates exactly the same problems in an independent system. Unbelievable!!

[ozbob]

Daily Telegraph --> Sydney train chaos: More rail delays expected with 36 peak hour services cancelled

FRUSTRATED commuters are set to face another day of railway chaos today, with 36 peak hour services cancelled across the city.

Staffing resources have been diverted from across the Sydney Trains network to ensure the smooth reopening of Australia's "most complex" junction at Hornsby. It is understood "ongoing rostering issues" have also contributed to the staffing problem.

Transport bosses are braced for the latest dramas and The Daily Telegraph can reveal Transport Minister Andrew Constance has ordered a fleet of more than 65 emergency buses to be kept on standby at strategic locations today and tomorrow to swoop in as a "last resort".

Extra communication staff are being deployed in a bid to improve on responses to any unforeseeable events, including weather.

Sydney Trains bosses were last night working to avoid a repeat of last week's disaster, in which stations became so crowded they had to be blocked off and police were called in to supervise.

Mr Constance and Sydney Trains chief executive Howard Collins were yesterday both in Hornsby overseeing last-minute tests as staff prepared for the opening of the new junction.

The facility, used for both passenger and freight rail services, has been closed for two weeks for a $120 million upgrade that should result in faster turnaround times for trains at Hornsby and increased passenger capacity on the T1 North Shore Line.

Mr Collins yesterday described the work as "open heart surgery" on one of the most "complex" junctions in Australia.

"This is a big Monday for us, we've got a major piece of new infrastructure coming on board," he said.

"We've got a contingency plan in place. Bus services will be running. We're not underestimating this.

"It is a very complex activity and one of the largest ones we've done for many, many years. (We did) 17 days of straight engineering work, if we just did it on a weekend it would be three years' worth of work."

With extra staff being deployed to manage the new opening, there a fears it could put stress on the rest of the network.

Services will be cancelled on the T2 Inner West and Leppington line, the T3 Bankstown line, the T5 Cumberland line, and the T7 Olympic Park and T8 Airport and South lines.

Buses will be stationed near Wynyard, Town Hall, Clyde, Glenfield, Sutherland, Campbelltown, Blacktown and Emu Plains to deal with the morning and afternoon peaks.

"Sydney Trains operate about 2900 services a day and for the next couple of days we have additional contingency plans to counter any unexpected disruption to the network, given last Tuesday's perfect storm for commuters," Mr Constance said.

"Transport NSW has more than 65 buses on standby for Monday and Tuesday, should we see another wave of unexpected summer sickness or any other unexpected incident that affects the operations of trains.

"In particular, there are 30 free shuttle buses that will be available to respond, engines running to our busiest stations like Wynyard and Town Hall. We hope these buses are not called upon — but we are prepared.

"Unlike Labor, we will not be returning to the old timetable and cutting 1500 services. We are responding to an unanticipated 11 per cent surge in rail patronage over a 12-month period."

A Sydney Trains spokesman said they had been forced to cancel some services due to staff availability but described the number as "small".

"To minimise disruptions we have analysed load data and cancelled services that are typically the least busy, are outside of peak hours or have another train scheduled soon after it," he said.

"Our priority is to provide customers with regular trains and to ensure there are no large gaps in service."

Rail, Train and Bus Union NSW secretary Alex Claassens said the Hornsby reopening was "totally separate" to their looming industrial action and that their members were committed to do everything they could to ensure the network runs smoothly for commuters.

'Divorce' on the cards as drivers demand pay rise

RELATIONS between the train drivers' union and the government have broken down so badly that talks between the two have been likened to a "divorce settlement".

Transport workers have refused to back down on demands for a 6 per cent pay rise and the union said members are livid with Transport Minister Andrew Constance.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union delegates and Unions NSW will meet today to decide if they will strike after members last week backed industrial action over their enterprise agreement.

Mr Constance has also accused the union of using "lines fed to them by Luke Foley" after NSW secretary Alex Claassens said members were terrified of losing their jobs because of privatisation plans.

Mr Claassens yesterday told The Daily Telegraph that while 6 per cent was a "starting point" for negotiations, he had no plans to back down from the figure as members were angry at Mr Constance blaming them for last week's trains meltdown.

The union boss said that while members might have accepted a smaller pay rise 12 months ago, they had "lost trust" in the minister after he boasted that he looked forward to a time with "driverless trains".

"Over the weekend I've had texts and emails with people saying six is what we want," he said.

"When people are angry it's like a divorce, they want the world. People have been working longer and harder with less resources.

"It's not just the drivers but the cleaners, the guards and the customer service staff. Then they get blamed for problems in a new time table that are not their fault."

Mr Constance told the Telegraph he had "zero, zilch, nada" plans for privatisation and the idea was being fed to the union by the Opposition Leader.

"That's just serious union game play from Luke Foley and I challenge him to release his diary showing what conversations he has been having with the union the past fortnight," Mr Constance said.

Mr Foley said the minister's claims were "paranoid" and "complete nonsense".

"Of course I have conversations from time to time with all unions and it's about time the minister did, too, then maybe he wouldn't be having the problems he's having now," Mr Foley said.

Mr Claassens said that there had been union concerns over privatisation "for a long time".

"(Mr Constance) is about to announce privations of region six bus routes," Mr Claassens said.

"I don't need advice from anyone it's on the public record. "

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/TrainsInfo/status/952601096983162880

[ozbob]

Sydney Morning Herald --> All of a sudden everything goes crazy'

Frank* has been driving for Sydney Trains for five years. He said situations like last Tuesday's peak hour chaos could have been predicted by management, and put unnecessary strain on the drivers and crew.

"It's stressful, you don't know what you're supposed to do - in the end you end up managing yourself for the day," he said.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, as staff are forbidden to talk to the media, Frank said he wanted to tell his story so commuters understand how strictly organised the train system is - and how quickly it can all fall apart.

"At the start [of your shift] you're given a list of what you're meant to do for the day - the different trains you're supposed to run, where you're stopping, your breaks - it's very detailed down to minutes," he said.

"On Tuesday I turned up and you get 15 minutes to prepare yourself before you get on your train," he said.

But looking for his train on the electronic board, Frank said he couldn't find it. Eventually he did locate his train - half an hour late - but when he got to his next location, there was no driver to take over from him.

"Another driver is supposed to take it back, but there was no one there. So that's when it all starts," Frank said.

Ringing the control centre was the next step, but due to the chaos across the network Frank said he could not get through "because everyone is trying to call them".

"It's not like they're deliberately not answering the phone, you just can't get through 'cause the whole system's gone haywire," he said.

"At that point we have very little communication with the people who can tell us what to do."

What he is trying to describe, Frank says, is how quickly the carefully managed system about how train crews spend their day can go "completely out the window" when something goes wrong, and the system ends up relying on drivers to decide whether they can work through breaks and do overtime to try to get the network back on track.

"It's not even about entitlements, it's about fatigue. For that day I drove trains for six hours straight," he said.

"Most of the time when things go wrong it works all right because they have an excess of staff and they can sort of cover anomalies."

There was not an excess of staff on Tuesday, and the combination of staff shortages and lightning strikes caused major delays across the city and left thousands of passengers delayed for hours.

There was frustration from both sides of politics as well as passengers - Labor blamed the November timetable overhaul for the chaos, while the government has demanded a report from rail bureaucrats on how the network can recover from these incidents.

However, Frank said Tuesday's chaos was no surprise as shorter dwell times for trains and fewer standby staff mean there is less flexibility when there are delays.

"They factor in a bit of extra time at certain stations to catch up with the timetable; they call that dwell times," he said.

"When you reduce times on the timetable for that, that also adds to the chance of things getting delayed, and then they accumulate.

"[The timetable] doesn't match up and all of a sudden everything goes crazy."

He said these are factors "you can see coming from miles away".

"I personally think having enough standby staff is the perfect solution; for some reason they have squeezed themselves dry as far as staff is concerned," he said.

"Then they bring in a new timetable, adding train services without that many extra trains - it's actually more work for us without enough staff to cover it. That's the wrong. It wasn't good management."

*Name has been changed for privacy reasons.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/kypros1992/status/952766166035980288

TIME FOR ACTION

Today, we notified Sydney & NSW Trains management that we will
begin taking action.

Action 1 - Wear and display union and industrial campaign
material such as union apparel & badges

This action will start at 12:01am on Friday the 19th January.
Badges will be distributed by your delegates and organisers in the
next few days.

Action 2 - An indefinite ban on overtime

This action will start at 12:01am on Thursday the 25th January.
We have seen in the past few days that excessive overtime is
leaving workers across the network fatigued and exhausted. We are
acting to protect our workmates and commuters. Delegates and
organisers will be in contact about how to implement that in your
area.

While these actions are on, management cannot force you to
remove your badge or union apparel or accept overtime work.
Only RTBU members are protected by law in taking part in this
action so make sure you go to bit.ly/rtbujoin and join today!

Authorised by Alex Claassens - Rail Tram & Bus Union NSW Branch Secretary
15th January 2018

[MichaelJ]

Frank has put the situation down in words extremely well.

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/TrainsInfo/status/952790608464236545

[ozbob]

Daily Telegraph --> Sydney Trains: Chaos coming as rail workers refuse to work overtime

COMMUTERS can expect more train pain with rail workers across Sydney and NSW taking industrial action next week in a move the government fears will be "as bad as a strike" and spin the system into chaos.

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) Monday revealed its members will refuse to work overtime from Thursday next week in a dispute over their pay and work conditions.

As part of their new enterprise bargaining agreement, they want an annual pay rise of 6 per cent over four years.

With Sydney Trains currently reliant on drivers working overtime to run their new timetable, the move is expected to cause mayhem.

The union's move follows the cancellation of almost 40 train services to ensure there wasn't a repeat of last week's debacle that left thousands of angry passengers stranded due to a combination of storms, trackwork, 70 drivers calling in sick and excess annual leave approvals.

"From Thursday the 25th of January, there will be an indefinite ban on overtime work. We've seen in the past few days that excessive overtime is leaving workers across the network fatigued and exhausted. The ban on overtime is important in order to protect our workmates and commuters," Mr Claassens said.

RTBU NSW Secretary Alex Claassens said they had been negotiating for more than six months and were now at breaking point. He said his members had been "burnt out" by the number of extra hours they had been forced to do.

"Our members have basically said enough is enough because we've been getting the blame for all this stuff, we've had enough, we can't keep working overtime and keep it safe and so our members now will start that ban next Thursday morning and obviously there is plenty of room to sit and have some conversations," he said.

Mr Claassens said Transport Minister Andrew Constance could stop the industrial action today if he came to the table with a fair deal. Union members will hand out materials about the industrial action from Friday.

But Mr Constance slammed the plans.

"I am deeply disappointed at the decision of union bosses to strike and harm Sydney Trains customers," he said.

"Sydney Trains will immediately move to put in place contingency plans and do their best to mitigate the impact on services.

"This decision will also hit hardworking drivers and station staff in the hip pocket, reducing their take-home pay."

Sydney Trains boss Howard Collins warned if drivers refused to work unplanned or rostered overtime the result could be fresh chaos on the rail network­.

"That will have an impact on the network ... we are working on those contingency plans now," he said.

"It would be an important challenge for us and we would have to reschedule (services)."

Meanwhile Premier Gladys Berejiklian apologised for last week's rail chaos after returning to work from her summer holidays.

"With the benefit of hindsight we should have taken proactive action and reduced the number of services that day (Tuesday) and let customers know, so that those delays weren't experienced," Ms Berejiklian said.

But she insisted inconvenienced passengers would receive no refunds as there was no "precedent" for that.

[ozbob]

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