The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, says her government is prepared to take legal action if next week’s planned 24-hour train strike can not be averted through negotiations.

Talks between Sydney Trains bosses and union officials over pay and conditions remain deadlocked despite a 10-hour meeting on Monday. They will resume on Tuesday afternoon.

Berejilkian urged all parties to put aside their differences and do what is in the best interest of customers. She said the state would do everything it could to prevent more than 9,000 train workers stopping work on Monday.

“We do have legal recourse and we will be taking that action but of course our preference is that negotiations end in a positive way and that the strike action be averted,” she said on Tuesday.

The union is pushing for a 6% pay rise and improved conditions, while the government upped its offer to 3% overnight after previously holding firm on a 2.5% increase.

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union NSW secretary, Alex Claassens, says it is not just about money. The main issues revolve around resourcing, rostering and job security.

He is frustrated that the transport minister, Andrew Constance – who has not been in the meetings – is focusing on pay over conditions.

“It’s not going to help the negotiations,” Claassens told 2GB radio on Tuesday. “In fact, it will probably derail it.”

Unless management addressed the union’s concerns about conditions the proposed ban on overtime work would start on Thursday, followed by the strike on Monday, he said. “We’re just frustrated.”

Malcolm Turnbull called on the union to get on with it.



“Standing over the government or the public transport authorities with that type of threat of strike action, the only people that will suffer are the commuters and they should be put first,” the prime minister told reporters in Brisbane.

Constance insists the government made an offer good enough to stave off the strike.

“We have put the offer to them and it is up to them to hopefully get this good package in place,” he told the Seven Network on Tuesday morning.

Passengers have endured a horror week on the rail network this month, with delays and cancellations leaving thousands stranded during peak hour.

Sixteen commuters and staff were injured on Monday after a train slammed into a barrier at Richmond station, in Sydney’s north-west.

Two women remain in a stable condition at Westmead hospital, while three others were still being treated at Nepean hospital on Tuesday morning.

The impact crushed the safety bumper and caused part of the train to lift.



Berejiklian said the crash was extremely concerning and no doubt an “unbelievably scary experience” for the people involved.

“We have three separate independent inquiries getting to the bottom of it and I want to assure the community that we will get to the bottom of the root cause and do everything we can to make sure it never happens again,” she said.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, Office of Transport Safety and the Office of National Rail Safety Regulator are investigating.



The Waratah train is the newest model in the Sydney fleet and Berejiklian appeared confident there were no broader concerns.



“If we thought there was any threat to any other service we would have taken action,” she said.

Turnbull offered his sympathy to those injured. “I’ve often travelled on that line and I can well image the horror of that crash,” he said.