CHERYL BOGAN couldn't believe her ears. It wasn't until the CityRail employee repeated himself in a louder voice that she and her husband, Jeffrey, were sure they were under racist attack by a public servant. The customer service manager at Central Station, no less.

''They're all Jews living in the eastern suburbs; they're all wealthy; they can afford to get a taxi,'' Roman Arnusch uttered repeatedly, according to the couple.

Anti-Semitic spray ... the suspended CityRail employee Roman Arnusch, who was sacked and then reinstated. Credit:Janie Barrett

The Bogans, who are Jewish and live at Bondi, had stepped off a train late at night and asked another CityRail staff member whether trains were still running to Bondi Junction. A ''polite and helpful'' Arly Ribet, a subordinate to Mr Arnusch, told them that services had finished and they would need to get a taxi.

It was then that Mr Arnusch, 62, piped up from behind with his observations about Jews, repeating himself up to five times as other passengers got off the train.