Archive, Industry News

Sydney fears buses wont cover train strike

A Sydney Trains chief executive says there won’t be enough buses to cover the planned action

Transport companies across New South Wales say they hold grave concerns that the state’s bus network won’t be able to cover the planned NSW train strikes set to occur in August.

Commuters have already been warned by NSW transport authorities that disruptions will continue to occur in the coming weeks as train strikes remain ongoing.

The NSW rail unions say train employees will strike every week to the end of August, causing further disruptions.

Sydney Trains chief executive Matt Longland told 2GB radio station on Tuesday that he fears there won’t be enough buses to cover the disruptions.

“We’ll do our best to minimise the impacts to customers,” Longland told 2GB.

“There’s a whole lot of action that we’re managing around infrastructure and cleaning and those sort of things.


RELATED ARTICLE: Driver shortages causing bus service chaos in NSW


“We only have a limited number of buses to be able to replace trains and the reality is we can’t provide that many buses.”

Instead, Sydney Trains is telling public transport users to consider taking light rail and bus services that remain available while trains are down.

The strikes remain ongoing due to the state government and the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) being unable to reach a solution to work conditions debates after the NSW government recently bought new intercity fleet trains that don’t meet the RTBU’s safety standards.

Send this to a friend