The NSW transport minister says documents filed to the Fair Work Commission planning a two week shutdown of the train network were only "a contingency plan".
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David Elliott - when asked about a Sydney Trains risk assessment submitted to the FWC four days before the shutdown on Monday - described it as "government 101".
The risk assessment sought advice from multiple government departments including the state's chief economist, the department of education and the department of communities and justice, an ABC report revealed.
"This was a contingency plan," Mr Elliott told parliamentary question time on Thursday afternoon.
"Every time a government department faces a dilemma, whether it be industrial action, whether it be a police operation, whether it be natural disaster, they do assessments to address all contingencies."
Premier Dominic Perrottet accused the Labor opposition of a "scare campaign" and said he was not aware of any plan to shut down the trains for two weeks.
Mr Elliott and Mr Perrottet have both said they first learned of the shutdown when they woke up on Monday morning, attributing the decision to transport bureaucrats.
Mr Elliott says he went to sleep on Sunday night under the impression there would be "significant disruption" on the rail network, but not a complete shutdown of services.
The premier met Mr Elliott and Transport secretary Rob Sharp on Wednesday and stipulated that any major decisions in the future had to be conveyed to the minister in writing.
Opposition Leader Chris Minns called for the transport minister to resign, saying weeks of planning by bureaucrats to shut down the rail network meant he was either lying about his knowledge of events, or had lost control of his department.
"Either he's running a Department of Transport that he has no control over, or he was made aware of it and has been misleading the public and the parliament for the last four days," Mr Minns said Thursday.
"At the end of the day, at the very least, he's an incompetent minister, not in charge of his portfolio."
Mr Perrottet said the middle of the night decision to cancel trains on Monday was "completely unacceptable" but remained "100 per cent the right decision".
"This situation would not have occurred but for the (union's) breach of the agreement that was entered into with the Fair Work Commission on Saturday," he told reporters on Thursday.
On Tuesday the government withdrew all claims against the Rail, Tram and Bus Union in the Fair Work Commission after the union asked to see the justification for shutting down the network.
Trains have been running a limited capacity since Tuesday, and will continue to do so until the end of the week.
Australian Associated Press
