Full-day train strikes threat

Railway workers threaten to step up action as March madness hits Auckland commuters

Auckland train workers are threatening full-day strikes on top of refusing to work overtime as Auckland Transport moves to cut train managers from its rail services.

Industrial action is due to start today. It coincides with the first day of “March madness”, expected to cause commuter chaos citywide, as tens of thousands of tertiary students head back to class.

Commuters of affected services can expect delays for the next 19 days.

Auckland Transport (AT) is warning commuters to make alternative travel arrangements to avoid delays.

It wants to transfer responsibility for opening and closing train doors from train managers to train drivers, with specific safety controls, and to replace train managers with a larger team of roving transport operators.

The industrial action will affect the more than 30,000 people who travel by train on an average week day.

The Rail and Maritime Transport Union says cutting the managers would jeopardise passenger safety.

“Train managers are the first responders in medical emergencies; they ensure all passengers, including those with disabilities, can safely board and disembark; they’re a deterrent to anti-social behaviour,” organiser John Kerr said.

Last week the union had a positive meeting with Auckland Transport and Transdev, and would talk again on Wednesday, Kerr said. “If we make progress we can call off the overtime ban, if not our members are also willing to take full-day strikes.”

Early results from a survey by the Public Transport Users Association (PTUA) showed nearly all passengers back keeping “critical” staff on trains.

In the survey of 242 people, 89 per cent said removing managers was not a good decision.

About 90 per cent held concerns if there was no one there to help them in “case of emergencies, violence or threatening behaviour” on their train.

PTUA organiser Jon Reeves said the group was calling on mayor Phil Goff to stand up and defend train passenger safety in the face of “what certainly looks like cost-cutting”.

He said the PTUA was the public transport equivalent of the Automobile Association for cars, representing users’ interests.

It felt there had been inadequate public consultation on the move.

The mayor, the chair of AT, AT Metro and management of Transdev, which runs the rail network for AT, will be invited to a public meeting next week to hear from train users.

Reeves said Transport Minister Phil Twyford might also be invited because the NZ Transport Agency has the power to veto the plan to reduce train passenger safety.

Auckland Transport warned that peak services on Southern, Western and Eastern lines from today would be affected and wait times between trains would be doubled.

“Customers can expect Southern, Western and Eastern line weekday peak train services at 20-minute intervals, with inter-peak and offpeak services running as normal.

“Many trains on these services will run with six cars, which can hold 900 passengers, to help reduce impact.”

That depends on the level of disruption caused by the action.

Services on those lines usually run at 10-minute intervals in peak hours.

AT chief transport services officer Mark Lambert said train managers are not encouraged to intervene in incidents and cannot leave a train service to manage “antisocial” behaviour off the train. The changes would improve safety and security on the rail network and reduce fare evasion and anti-social behaviour, he said.

During the industrial action buses and ferries will continue to run as normal, but Auckland Transport expects them to be busier.

Transdev last night apologised to Aucklanders for the looming disruptions and said it was disappointing the union had chosen to launch industrial action during March madness.

Managing director Michel Ladrak said Transdev was working to end the action “as swiftly as possible”.