A STRIKE is set to throw a spanner in the works for Newcastle commuters on Tuesday, as the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) pushes ahead with industrial action against the state government.
The union has raised safety concerns with a $2.8 billion intercity train fleet, and announced last week that train crews would also only operate on trains that met "maintenance centre minimum standards".
A number of rail lines are expected to be impacted, including services between Newcastle and Sydney's Central Station.
RTBU NSW secretary Alex Claassens said the NSW Government can end the dispute by simply committing to fulfil the basic requirement of government and deliver safe trains for commuters and fair wages and conditions for workers.
He said planned strike action on Tuesday and Thursday will unfortunately still be going ahead, given the state government is still yet to commit, without any doubt, that it will fix its serious rail safety issues.
"As with previous strike actions, Tuesday and Thursday's actions have been designed to cause a headache for management, but still allow commuter services to run," he said.
"Our fight is never with commuters - it's with management and the government.
"We're doing this because we can't allow commuters to get on unsafe trains, and that's something we simply can't back down on."
Hunter Workers will stand behind the rail staff, arguing the state government has left the public "exposed" and workers with no other choice by "refusing to negotiate in good faith".
The state government could put a stop to the strikes if it wasn't digging its heels in negotiations, Hunter Workers secretary Leigh Shears said.
"The NSW Liberal government could easily put an end to these disruptions by coming to the table and listening to the legitimate concerns of rail workers, but they're more concerned with smearing the RTBU's reputation than the safety of commuters and the wellbeing of public sector workers," he said.
Train services will be less frequent on Tuesday between 10am and 4pm on the Blue Mountains and Newcastle lines, affecting stops from Newcastle to Lithgow.
The RTBU has planned strikes and other actions throughout August.
"People are in my office talking about a calendar for September," Mr Claassens said.
"Everybody is very frustrated and angry and something's got to give here."
It came after workers refused to operate 37 trains they said did not meet minimum maintenance standards, leading to delays on the T1, T2, and T8 lines today.
Mr Claassens said trains that did not meet minimum maintenance standards could be affected by a range of issues "from safety all the way through to cleanliness".
He blamed outsourcing and extended time between maintenance inspections for failure to meet standards.
"The issue with these (Waratah) trains is that they're not serviced on a monthly basis as all of our old ones were," he said.
Meetings took place on Friday, Sunday, and Monday to try to resolve the long-running dispute over a new enterprise agreement and the union's safety concerns with the mothballed Korean-built fleet of intercity trains.
A Transport for NSW spokeswoman said the action means there will be reductions in intercity train services on the Central Coast and Newcastle line.
"A weekend timetable with a one-hourly rail service will run between Sydney and Newcastle and Sydney and Wyong in both directions," she said.
"While trains will be replaced with buses on the Hunter Line from 7:30am to 5:12pm, buses might not run to the train timetable, so customers should allow extra time for their journeys.
"Customers should be aware the stoppage might also impact on availability of station staff and could lead to stations and station amenities being temporarily closed.
"We know this is incredibly frustrating for our customers who have limited access to alternative transport and rely on our services to get to school, work and appointments."
Over the next two weeks, RTBU members may refuse to operate services each day if they believe those services don't meet a minimum maintenance standard.
Minimum standards are related to issues including cleanliness and train maintenance and a decision on the standard of each train is made by the crew.
The Transport for NSW spokeswoman said the safety of the train network is their number one priority, and they would never allow a train to run if it wasn't safe.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said it was incredibly disappointing to have trains out of action and he dismissed the union's campaign throughout this month as "political games".
He said Monday's action was "unplanned", although the union advised weeks ago it would not be operating trains that did not meet minimum standards.
The premier said the trains did meet those standards.
"This is just the union once again taking action and inconveniencing people for their own political benefit," he said.
Transport for NSW has urged members of the public to consider alternative transport, allow extra travel time and avoid non-essential travel.
For more information on travel delays visit the Transport for NSW website.
