Auckland Transport is warning there could be more cancellations to services across the city’s rail network as a second group of workers begin industrial action tomorrow.
Discussions between CAF, a Spanish rail manufacturer which supplies and maintains Auckland’s electric trains, and the Rail and Maritime Transport Union (RMTU) have broken down and a resolution will not be reached.
Unionised employees will not be working overtime and will only conduct preventative maintenance rather than corrective maintenance, said RMTU general secretary Todd Valster.
This means they will only completed scheduled checks on trains and will not do any other repairs or breakdown-related work.
Auckland Transport said it was “disappointed” at the breakdown in discussions between the trains company and the union.
“We are very mindful of the impacts that this will have on our customers, and we expect services will begin to be impacted from next week,” said rail franchise manager Craig Inger.
“We need our trains to be safe and well maintained, and this industrial action may mean that some trains might not be able to operate.”
If trains were unable to be repaired, they would be unavailable for services.
Inger said this meant more cancellations across the rail network were possible.
“We strongly encourage the RMTU and CAF to find a resolution as quickly as possible. Aucklanders have been very patient with ongoing rail disruption, and we appreciate this will be frustrating news, especially given there is already industrial action impacting customers.”
Auckland One Rail, the city’s rail operator, announced it would implement a 20-minute frequency at peak times on weekdays to cover staff shortages.
From June 8, unionised train drivers and staff are refusing to work overtime or any shifts that vary from the master roster.
Off-peak and weekend services would be unaffected and would run to their regular frequency, however there may be some additional cancellations due to resulting staff shortages, AOR said.