Free bus travel: Newcastle drivers turn off Opal card readers indefinitely

By Jamieson Murphy

Updated April 2 2025 - 6:52pm, first published 4:31pm

Newcastle and Lake Macquarie bus drivers will leave the Opal card readers off indefinitely, as the union tries to force Keolis Downer back to the negotiating table.

Rail, Tram & Bus Union (RTBU) says the protected industrial action will begin on Thursday and apply to all buses leaving the Hamilton and Belmont depots.

In a letter to local drivers, the RTBU told drivers to not activate their Bus Driver Consoles, which is the system that reads Opal cards and provides live tracking data, "at any time".

"This action specifically hurts the company and makes commuters happy," the letter stated.

"The company is currently fishing for ways to stop this one which tells you it's going to have an impact.

"Remember, during the last negotiations, when we went to turn the machines off it was lawyers at 20 paces straight away."

RTBU divisional president Peter Grech said the union was attempting to negotiate a new enterprise agreement with Keolis Downer, but so far the meetings had been "spontaneous and unfruitful".

Mr Grech claimed the Keolis Downer was intentionally making negotiations difficult by roosting the local bargaining delegates on shift, leaving them unable to attend meetings.

"We need our bargaining representatives off the road and into the room," Mr Grech said.

"I was in Newcastle on Monday, but the meeting didn't go ahead because we had delegates required to do driving shifts when the bargaining was due to be underway."

Mr Grech said the two key asks were a pay bump and at least 72 hours notice for changes to driver's shifts.

The industrial action, which includes some drivers choosing not to wear uniforms, will be continuing indefinitely.

A Keolis Downer spokesperson said it would continue to negotiate in good faith with the union, with the aim of reaching an agreement that offers fair and reasonable wage increases.

"While we respect the rights of RTBU members to take industrial action, it is disappointing the RTBU is choosing to take this action while we are still negotiating proposed enterprise agreements."

"We understand that disruptions to real-time bus tracking will be frustrating for our customers-especially for parents of school children who rely on tracking their child's bus, as well as schools and people with disabilities.

"Our focus remains on minimising inconvenience and ensuring our services continue to operate as smoothly as possible."

The RTBU letter also stated the union was "currently planning stoppages" and would do its "best to miss the school services".

"But at this stage there is definitely going to be some time on the grass," the letter stated.

Mr Grech said despite what the letter said, there were no stoppages planned for this round of industrial action.

The union and Keolis Downer are expected to meet again on Thursday.

On March 13, local drivers suddenly halted all services for the day following reports of a person jumped on a bus in the Newcastle CBD, and threatening to return with a machete and attack the driver.

It came in the wake of several assaults on Newcastle and Lake Macquarie bus drivers in a matter of days.