Media release: Backroom deal to extend inner-west Sydney’s private bus contract a scandalous attack on local commuters
28 July 2025
The move to quietly extend the region 6 private bus contract without putting it out to tender is scandalous and means inner-west commuters will be condemned to another two years of substandard bus services, the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) NSW says.
RTBU NSW Tram and Bus Division President, Peter Grech, said the move to extend Transit System’s contract by two years not only goes against the NSW Government’s commitment to ending the failed bus privatisation experiment but is also undermines faith in public transport and public trust.
“This is a case of public money going to private mates. It’s no way to run a transport system,” Mr Grech said.
“Extending a contract without even opening it up to a tender process is absolutely scandalous.
“The initial argument for privatisation of our buses was that it would improve services and improve value for money – neither of those things have happened.
“The privatisation of the region’s buses has been disastrous for local commuters. We’ve seen routes cuts and services axed since the region was sold off to the private operator. This backroom deal is condemning local commuters to two more years of substandard services.
Mr Grech said the privatisation of bus services hasn’t just hurt the inner-west, but the whole of Sydney and Newcastle.
“Bus privatisation has hit our most vulnerable very hard – not just in region 6, but right across Sydney and Newcastle.
“Commuters have been forced to endure substandard services and local workers have been hit with pay management issues and eroded working conditions.
“Commuters deserve a world-class public transport system, but at the moment, the service is far from that. We need to see a return to the days when our buses were run for the benefit of commuters, not shareholders.
“The status quo isn’t working – the people of region 6, and Sydney more broadly, deserve better.
“It’s up to the NSW Government to pave its own, better, path for transport which should start with putting buses back in public hands.”