Government & Media Blame Game – The Real Story Behind the Network Meltdown
Between 15-17 January 2025, government ministers and anti-union media outlets wasted no time pointing the finger at us for the chaos that unfolded across the rail network. But let’s be clear – this meltdown can’t be solely attributed to protected industrial action; it was a failure of planning, operational competence, and accountability from those in charge.
As part of the ongoing industrial strategy deployed by the Combined Rail Unions (CRU), the ETU had lawfully notified Sydney Trains of industrial action that would apply on a range of dates, including on 15 January 2025.
Yet the real question about the cause of the meltdown across the network, and something that was conveniently ignored in the Government’s spin, is: what did TfNSW, Sydney and NSW Trains do, or fail to do, in the two weeks leading up to this?
Were any reasonable and necessary steps taken to ensure critical network maintenance took place to prevent avoidable issues that would ultimately lead to the network shutdown at Bondi Junction and Homebush?
Or did management sit idly by, eager for the network to crash to support even more legal tactics at the expense of commuters?
Instead of taking responsibility, the NSW Government and Transport bureaucrats have deliberately misled the public, and have caused unwarranted reputational damage to rail workers and union members. We’re not going to let that slide.
This afternoon, we have lodged an application under the NSW Government Information (Public Access) Act to obtain records (emails, reports, memos, etc.) from key personnel, ensuring we uncover exactly who knew what, when, and what was done (or not done) between 1-14 January 2025.
Stay tuned – we will keep digging until the truth comes out.