Sydney has been through a lot of travel chaos in the past few months, but free train travel should go some way to appeasing commuters.
Thanks to a badly timed combination of terrible weather, a rail shutdown planned by the state government, and industrial action by the rail union, NSW’s travel network has badly suffered recently.
On Thursday, March 24th, though, the leaders of the Rail, Train and Bus Union (RTBU) finally reached a positive agreement with NSW Transport Minister David Elliott (as per news.com.au).
In the next few weeks, fare-free days will come into effect, giving Sydneysiders some much-needed respite from the recent travel chaos. The dates and duration for the free travel hasn’t been officially decided yet, with Elliott currently in the process of finalising the plan.
It comes after the NSW rail union struck an in-principle agreement to decrease their industrial action for the next six weeks at least, which promised commuters a break from the network chaos.
Hours of serious discussions between the rail union’s representatives and the NSW Transport Minister were held, with the specific details of the deal to be agreed upon over the coming weeks. Train stakeholders will again meet next week to continue their six-week negotiation period.
Ever since its enterprise agreement expired last May, the Rail, Bus and Train Union had been lobbying the NSW government to improve pay and working conditions for their members.
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The RTBU told the government last week that it would continue its industrial action every Friday until June unless the government introduced fare-free days for commuters.
We’ll keep you updated with the official fare-free travel dates. Whatever day it turns out to be though, expect massive crowds to be eagerly waiting to take advantage of the offer.
For more on this topic, follow the Travel Observer.
