Sydney train chaos on election day

Crowds gathered at Sydney’s Central station on Saturday afternoon as track repairs stopped services travelling to Strathfield.

Commuters travelling home from the city have been forced to take replacement buses.

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Some people have taken to Twitter to complain about the delays, with one saying they’d vote for whoever agreed to fix the transport problem in NSW.

“Sydney trains are so f***ed … I don’t know when I’m going to get home,” one person wrote.

One man questioned how the city had such a bad train system, with signal failures “every second day”.

“Stuck on a train. Joy,” he wrote.

“I’ll vote for any party that maintains the service.”

Another person said they’d been stuck on a train for two hours, while Sydney Trains has issues a warning asking travellers to allow extra travel time.

Western lines are running late, and some trains have had to alter their routes due to “urgent track repairs” at Homebush.

“Stops may change and journey times will be longer. Please allow extra travel time,” Sydney Trains said in a tweet.

Sydney Train issues have been a divisive topic of the state after a bitter dispute with the Rail, Tram, and Bus Union led to multiple strikes and commuter chaos throughout much of 2022.

Confusion ensued when train officials kept station gates open, encouraging travellers to not pay for transport, with the government threatening to fine people who didn’t tap on.

The clashes related to pay and safety concerns over a Korean-built fleet of intercity trains, which the union argued was not safe to operate, with a furious Mr Perrottet threatening to terminate the multibillion-dollar enterprise agreement.

Tensions were finally quashed this year when the majority of rail workers backed a new enterprise agreement. In turn, workers were promised increased parental, bereavement and carers leave and a 2.53 per cent pay increase to May 2023, plus a 3.03 per cent increase to May 2024.

In unfortunate timing, Sydney commuters were reminded of the train debacle earlier this month when the entire rail network came to a halt due to a communication systems fault.

While trains resumed about an hour later, crowds were stuck at train stations, with delays continuing into the night.

Reporter

Lauren Ferri is a general news reporter for NCA NewsWire, covering everything from breaking news and crime to politics, business and Covid-19. Prior to joining the Sydney bureau she cut her teeth at court reporting… Read more

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