Sydney slashes train fares with half-priced peak hour travel and free trips at the weekend to apologies for rail shutdown that caused chaos for millions
- Sydney plunged into chaos after entire train network shut down for 24 hours
- Commuters will get half-price peak hour travel and free weekend trips for month
- Fallout and blame game by union and government over the debacle continues
Thousands of inconvenienced commuters will be compensated after Australia’s biggest city was plunged into chaos by the shutdown of the entire train network.
Sydneysiders will get half-price peak hour travel and free weekend trips for a month as an apology for being left stranded by Monday’s debacle.
Transport minister David Elliott is expected to announce more details on Thursday.
The news comes as the fallout and blame game over the shutdown continues.
Sydneysiders will get half-priced peak hour trip and free weekend travel on the city’s train network for a month (pictured commuters at Parramatta on Tuesday)
Mr Elliott insists he was not aware of Sydney Trains’ plans to shutdown the network until 4am Monday, despite his chief of staff being made aware two-and-a-half hours earlier.
The network is still running at a limited capacity three days later.
‘Due to industrial action, trains will run every 30 minutes on most lines. Services may be less frequent and trips may take longer than usual,’ Sydney Trains tweeted on Thursday.
‘A limited amount of buses have also been arranged Please limit travel where possible and use alternative modes of transport.’
The delays expected to continue until next week after the entire network came to an abrupt halt on Monday, plunging the city into widespread chaos.
Millions of Sydneysiders discovered they had no way of getting to work with just a 5am social media announcement from Sydney Trains.
The result was chaos with 22km traffic jams on the M2 Motorway and similar gridlock elsewhere as workers jumped in their cars all at once.
Transport for NSW secretary Rob Sharp and the NSW Government claimed they had no choice but to cancel all services as the union’s industrial action made the system unsafe – a claim the union strongly rejects.
The shutdown of the rail network left commuters stranded and placed overwhelming demand on buses and Sydney’s roads
A furious NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has since ordered his ministers to be available 24 hours a day after Mr Elliott admitted he wouldn’t have taken the call in the middle of the night regarding the snap shutdown.
The state government has also taken steps to ensure a similar debacle doesn’t happen again.
Sydney Trains must provide a written briefing and signed endorsement prior to planning future shutdowns.
‘Those senior transport bureaucrats were told in a meeting today any major decisions need to be subject to ‘written briefing and written endorsement,’ Mr Elliott told Parliament on Wednesday.
Back-to-back traffic crippled Victoria Road in Sydney (pictured) as train services were shut down on Monday
‘That will ensure there are no further incidents of this nature in the future.
‘Whatever process shortcoming occurred on Sunday night, the ultimate outcome would not have changed.’
Mr Elliott was also ordered by the Premier to sit down with secretary of transport Rob Sharp to repair strained relations between the pair.
The state government has withdrawn its claim against the Rail, Tram and Bus Union in the Fair Work Commission after the union requested to see the justification for shutting down the network.
Commuters are still being inconvenienced three days after the shutdown due to services running to a reduced timetable (pictured commuters at Parramatta on Tuesday)