Footplate: New InterCity Fleet Locomotive Division Depot Tour

As Members would be aware, your union has continued to meet with NSW Trains in relation to the introduction of the NIF to discuss many of the outstanding issues related to the safe operation of the NIF. In the lead up to the Christmas period, a series of high-level meetings were conducted with NSW Trains and TfNSW to discuss the status of negotiations specific to:

• An absolute right-of-way for the train dispatch procedure,
• A physical presence to match the platform train interface,
• The removal of traction inter-locking from the crew cab doors,
• The use of CCTV as a secondary aid, and;
• The RTBU endorsement of the Clemens report

Many of these outstanding issues are contained within the operator instruction manuals (OIM) crew tasks and procedures; these issues remain on the table for further discussions as they are mainly based on NSW Trains proposed and unsafe operating model.

In addition to these meetings, the RMAus (Clemens Repot) safety assessment has identified the NSW Trains NIF engineered operating model as fundamentally flawed. This report clearly identifies that the NSW Trains proposed operating is not as safe as the current mode of operation.

Therefore, the Locomotive Division will now be conducting a depot wide tour in February on the premise of keeping the membership fully up to date on the most recent turn of events and hear from you, the members on our next course of action. Below is a list of the times and dates.

Members will additionally have the opportunity to provide the Locomotive Division with feedback as part of the tour that will endorse its representatives to further engage with the rail entity to achieve an outcome in the promotion of an operating model that is fit-for-purpose within the NSW rail network.

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