NSNS govt. offers $240m to fix rail fleet

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NSNS govt. offers $240m to fix rail fleet

The NSW government has offered to end a years-long stoush with the rail union, which has resulted in industrial action causing chaos for commuters.

Transport Minister David Elliott made a $240 million offer to fix a fleet of trains that had been at the centre of the dispute between the Rail, Tram and Bus Union RTBU The New Inter-City Fleet NIF, which was meant to travel from Sydney to Lithgow, Kiama and the Central Coast. It arrived in Sydney in 2020 but has been sitting in storage since.

RTBU members have refused to operate the trains, saying that guards can't adequately monitor platforms and make sure gaps are clear from the new trains to ensure passenger safety.

The fleet is safe, with the government receiving accreditation from the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator.

After a long-running stalemate and protracted industrial action, the government has said it will make the modifications beginning in August for $264 million.

Elliott said he wanted the union to wind back its industrial action from Friday.

The NSW government will expect the union to act in good faith, he said today.

We are going to provide them with the terms of the negotiations that have been settled today over the course of the afternoon. My expectation is that our public transport system will run as normal from Friday.

The cost of industrial action, the cost to the NSW economy, and the inconvenience to the commuters have to be in front of mind when it comes to running public transport in this state. The government has agreed to original negotiations on pay and allowances.

A breakdown in talks over the safety issue prompted the RTBU to take industrial action this week, with trains running slower than 60 kilometres an hour on Tuesday.

On Friday, drivers are planning to only operate about 30 per cent of the existing fleet, meaning only about 25 per cent of the rail services will run.

RTBU secretary Alex Claassens said that the union was waiting for the physical offer and would meet with transport officials and delegates before making a decision on Friday's industrial action.

He said that we've had these offers and then they walked away from them once or twice in the past.

At this stage, a verbal commitment from our minister is great, but we need to do a lot more work to make sure everyone is comfortable.