Sydney's commuters are sick of delays regardless of who is to blame
Tuesday's peak hour chaos, which started as students were trying to get home from school and extended well into the commuter hour, will have seriously tested the patience of heavy rail users.
It was a broken overhead live wire landing on the roof of a train in Sydney's west that caused the delays but that is irrelevant. Sydney's commuters are tired of delays, regardless of who is to blame.
Only as recently as February, commuters were collateral damage in the bitter ongoing wages dispute between the state government and rail unions.
Few will forget Valentine's Day this year, when Sydney experienced massive train delays and cancellations. The city was thrown into chaos as a significant number of train drivers and guards called in sick, according to Transport for NSW.
The unions, however, maintained the absences were no more unusual than other Fridays.
After an elongated industrial dispute, last minute-negotiations broke down when the government said it was blindsided by a union claim for a one-off $4500 sign-on bonus. 'I think the union is gaslighting Sydney,' NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union was having none of it. They insisted that the bonus was a deal signed by the former Liberal transport minister David Elliott. It was a classic case of he said, she said. It was not the only major disruption on the city's rail network during the months-long dispute, but it had a big impact.
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