{"id":167422,"date":"2025-01-16T13:13:21","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T03:13:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=167422"},"modified":"2025-01-16T13:13:22","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T03:13:22","slug":"nsw-government-considering-train-fare-refunds-amid-ongoing-delays-across-rail-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=167422","title":{"rendered":"NSW government considering train fare refunds amid ongoing delays across rail network"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NSW Premier Chris Minns believes hundreds of thousands of commuters should have their train fares refunded after major disruptions on Sydney’s rail network due to ongoing industrial action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The premier said “they should” when asked if commuters ought to be refunded for the “chaos” on the network over the last two days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We’re going to be looking at that very closely,” Mr Minns said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“But my main objective at the moment is to get an end to ongoing industrial disputes that [are] wrecking the NSW economy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transport for NSW secretary Josh Murray said a total of 1,900 train services were cancelled over the course of Wednesday, which he said equated to around 50 per cent of all services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Murray said the department expected a total of 1,000 services to be cancelled on Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the cancellations were due to a combination of the rail union’s various industrial bans<\/a>, which were reinstated yesterday and because of the storm that swept through Sydney overnight<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The opposition said commuters deserved their money back immediately and called for train fares to be scrapped until timetables can return to normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Refund the fares, make travel free until this chaos is fixed, and stop the blame game,” Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Passengers have been left frustrated with the delays on Sydney trains this week. (ABC News: Mark Davies)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Commuters back refund for train disruptions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most Sydney commuters who spoke to the ABC have welcomed the idea of having their fares reimbursed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arriving at Central station for work, Muhammad Rahmn said his usual 30-minute trip became a three-hour trip and believed people should be repaid for their wasted time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Because we are wasting too much time on the way [to work] only and the way home as well so, yes, I think they should [provide refunds],” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Muhammad Rahmn’s commute has been severely impacted by the industrial action. (ABC News: Warwick Ford)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

At Lidcombe station, 16-year-old’s Ramen Atah and Roberto Porrello both agreed that it didn’t make sense for commuters to have to pay for services that don’t get them to where they need to go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Seriously, I paid to get the train and then what? I’m going to sit on the train for an hour and a half and not even get to where I’m trying to go \u2014 and I’m going to pay for that?” Roberto Porrello said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But some commuters, like John McClean, believed the cost of refunding everybody would not be worth the effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Well, I’m no economist but I think that would cost the government a hell of a lot of money,” Mr McClean said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NSW Chris Minns says the government is “looking at that very closely” at train fares refunds for inconvenienced commuters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":167427,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,47,6482,84,2447,2695],"tags":[5026,2139],"class_list":["post-167422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","category-rail-news","category-rail-strike","category-rail-strikes","category-strike-action","category-sydney-trains","tag-nsw","tag-sydney"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t