Perrottet takes train stoush to industrial umpire

“At this stage Wednesday and Friday [are] definitely still on because there is no way in the world that we’re going to back off on any of our industrial action unless we get some sort of guarantee from the government that they are serious,” Mr Claassens said.

The union had received notification that a hearing in the matter would go ahead at the commission at 4.30pm on Monday, he said.

The government has signalled a willingness to spend $264 million to modify the fleet, but the union insists it needs written confirmation as previous offers were followed by backflips.

Transport Minister David Elliott has vowed to resign if he does not deliver on promises to the union and insists there are no safety concerns with the fleet.

Mr Perrottet on Monday reiterated the government’s pledge to fix the fleet.

“We’ve said that publicly, we’re making that a commitment,” he said.

Mr Claassens said the emergency hearing was a chance to get written proof of the government’s promise.

“We’ll be in front of a commissioner and then hopefully … we’ll be able to get some sort of guarantees from them on transcript,” he said.

Labor leader Chris Minns urged “round-the-clock” talks and said the government needed to give the union written assurance on fleet safety upgrades.

“It shows rail workers and the travelling public that the government is serious about ensuring that those Korean-built trains are safe to use and work on the NSW public transport system,” Mr Minns said.

Under protected action on Monday, trains sounded their whistles. Other actions through the week are likely to include cleaners working only at their home depot and drivers not using the network to travel between stations.

AAP