The dramas that affected the South Coast and other train lines last week are unlikely to be behind us.
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While the train drivers’ union had its overtime ban and planned strike on Monday quashed by the Fair Work Commission only the naive would believe all services will return to normal.
That’s because the state’s rail timetable seems to be built on a substantial flaw.
That flaw is that it requires people working overtime to function.
That was evident last Thursday when the Rail Tram and Bus Union threatened an ongoing ban on working any overtime.
The government’s response was to run to a weekend – rather than a weekday – timetable despite Thursday being a work day for many.
On the South Coast line, that saw the number of peak services in the morning and evenings cut in half.
It also meant using weekend trains. So commuters who normally rode eight-car trains had to squeeze onto four-car sets.
The trains were so crowded that some people who got on at Wollongong station had to stand all the way to Sydney.
If there are enough drivers rostered on to handle all the services on a weekday then taking such extreme measures in the face of a threatened overtime ban is strange.
So one can only conclude that overtime is propping up the government’s revamped train timetable.
And a system built on a foundation like that will inevitably fail – probably more than once.
While the union’s official ban on overtime has been knocked on the head, there’s no guarantee workers will continue to accept extra shifts.
Some will, keen to get some extra money. But others may decide they’d rather have time off to relax.
Enough of them do that and we’ve got another day of rail chaos.