SYDNEY, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) — Authorities of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) shut down all Sydney and intercity trains on Monday amid an escalation in an industrial dispute between the state government and rail workers.

Until Monday evening, the ongoing dispute between the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) and the NSW government over safety guarantees, hygiene, pay and privatization concerns are still frustrating Sydney’s evening commuters.

The shutdown came on the day when the country opened its border to fully vaccinated international travellers for the first time after two years of border closure due to COVID-19.

Travellers and commuters were urged to use alternative means of transport and allowed extra time for trips, as the shutdown forced train passengers to drive cars.

“We will work into the evening if that’s required to look at what we can do to get train running tomorrow,” Chief Executive of Sydney Trains Matthew Longland said.

“This is a difficult period, regardless of the outcome … we do expect some impact over this two-week period,” he said.

In a statement, Transport for NSW said the snap shutdown was due to the ongoing union action taken by the RTBU making Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink unable to safely operate train services.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet accused the unions and the Labor Party of conducting a “concerted campaign” to cause mass disruption for Sydney.

However, the RTBU said the shutdown was not a strike, noting that rail workers turned up for work but the “NSW government is spitting the dummy and trying to make a point”.

“The government went to the media and blatantly lied to the public saying that members were on ‘strike’. This was a deliberate move by the government to try and turn the public against us,” the RTBU wrote in a statement.

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