Commuters have slammed Sydney Trains over extensive delays on Tuesday afternoon, days after the city was given free travel over ongoing strikes.
Sydney Trains said urgent wiring repairs at Town Hall station in the CBD was the cause of the problem.
Transport NSW’s official Twitter account warned commuters to budget extra travel time with trains between Central and Wynyard grinding to a halt around 3pm.
Sydney Trains also announced urgent repairs at Redfern station had temporarily slowed services on Tuesday morning.
Authorities said normal services had resumed as of 4:20pm.
Commuters raged at Sydney Trains throughout the mess, with one woman saying she was on a stopped train in a dark tunnel.
Another person said it took them over an hour to get to Central Station from Wynyard.
“I’m travelling in Wynyard to Central direction and the trains from North Sydney are terminating at Wynyard. Well actually we are sitting on train in a dark tunnel. Not moving. You need more up to date info to be shared!” the woman said.
It came after NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet announced the plans for free travel last week as the state government plans to enter into negotiations with the Rail Trams and Bus Union after a months long stand-off that has seen the rail network ground to a halt several times.
Travel will be free from 12:01am on Monday to 11:59pm on Friday, and Opal gates and readers will be turned off, meaning commuters do not need to tap on and off.
The five fare-free days will apply to Sydney Trains, NSW TrainLink intercity, Airport Link, and Sydney Metro services on the Opal network – with bus, ferry and light rail trips not included.
“People need to get to work, go to school and go about their normal day without being disrupted by union strike action, Mr Perrottet said on Friday.
“I’ve taken this action to put Sydney commuters ahead of union disruption and make sure businesses across our city don’t take a financial hit.
“On Thursday I had a very constructive meeting with Alex Claassens and the RTBU, but it’s now time to remove barriers and take it all before an independent umpire for a resolution.”