A train guard has been suspended after live-streaming a profane speech while on duty.
The Sydney Trains employee was doing his job on the train while recording himself describing passengers who were undecided about whether to get on or not as “sons of bitches”.
“There were a lot of stupid passengers today,” he said in the footage obtained by 7News.
“You wait for the train like it’s a fucking taxi.”
He then surprisingly stated that “in the old days, passengers used to get beaten up a lot,” a comment that prompted laughter from another man off-screen.
The guard was reportedly paid $80 an hour at the time of the attack and has since been suspended while Sydney Trains investigates the matter.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns and Transport Minister Jo Haylen condemned the guard’s actions.
Despite not having seen the footage when asked about the incident at a news conference Tuesday, Minns said “it doesn’t sound right, so no, it’s not appropriate.”
A Sydney train guard has been sacked after he went on an expletive-filled rant describing passengers as “sons of bitches” on a livestream while he was on duty (pictured)
Ms Haylen echoed the Premier’s stance, telling state parliament on Tuesday night that the guard had been identified and his conduct was “not acceptable in any way”.
“This is also unacceptable to that guard’s many other colleagues at Sydney Trains and Transport for NSW,” he said.
‘I would like to emphasise, however, that the vast majority of the 10,000 employees who manage our railway network are very proud of what they do.
“They bring great professionalism to their work every day.”
A Sydney Trains spokesman said passenger safety was taken “of the utmost importance” and the guard’s behaviour “fell well below the standards we expect”.
“This staff member has been identified and has been suspended from duty while we conduct an investigation,” the spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
‘This incident will be managed in accordance with our code of conduct and operational safety procedures.’
The guard’s livestream came just days after Hayden announced that the opening of the state’s largest transport project, Sydney’s driverless metro line, would be delayed.
The guard shockingly claimed that “in the old days they used to beat passengers,” a comment that prompted laughter from another man off-screen (file image)
Sydneysiders had hoped to get a chance to use the $21 billion project on Sunday but were hampered by regulators who have yet to approve the start of passenger services.
“The target date was always a target date, unfortunately we are not going to achieve it, but we are very close,” he said when announcing the delay last Tuesday.
The Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator still needs to give the go-ahead for the route to begin carrying passengers from Chatswood on Sydney’s north shore, under the harbour and into the city centre.
Multiple factors contributed to the delay.
“One of them, of course, is the incident that happened in the northwest, as well as the strike,” Haylen said.
That comment referred to passengers who were stranded for hours in early July on the north-west section of the line, starting at Tallawong, near Blacktown.
Ms Haylen said the trains have been tested, the operator is ready to run them and changes have been made to bus timetables to accommodate commuters on to the network.
