Stay informed

Today we announced that from next Monday, in line with NSW Health advice, more people will be able to climb aboard public transport when capacity increases across all our services to help support the State’s COVID-19 recovery.

From Monday capacity will be increased to about 75 per cent on services and TrainLink services will return to 100 per cent capacity. This means people can sit next to one another on trips and represents the next stage of the Transport Plan.

The announcement comes as the health situation in NSW has stabilised with rare community transmission and advice on capacity from NSW Health has been updated. The change is also in line with the easing of restrictions more generally across NSW helping keep life as normal as possible and supporting businesses and maintaining economic activity.

At Transport we have an important role to play in assisting to keep communities COVID safe while helping people move safely to jobs, recreational activities and public spaces across NSW. View the FAQs here.

Following new medical advice from the vaccine expert taskforce, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI), the longer term timeframe for the national vaccine roll out program is being reviewed. The advice is that the rare risk of blood clotting side effects from the Astra Zeneca vaccine is four to six in one million people, in the first four to 20 days post the vaccine - a rare but serious side effect.

On that basis, the recommendation is that it is preferred that the Pfizer vaccine be provided to adults under the age of 50. The AstraZeneca vaccine should only be given as a first dose to adults under the age of 50 where the benefit clearly outweighs the risk for that individual.

AstraZeneca is recommended for those over the age of 50.

The vaccination program will continue, particularly for the most vulnerable Australians in Phase 1B including those over the age of 70 who are not impacted by this revised advice.

The Department of Health is providing preliminary, updated advice to general practitioners and health professionals. This Department’s webpage will be updated with the new rollout details as soon as possible so continue to keep checking here for more information.

The Premier has had asked residents in the four shires not to travel outside those shires and visitors are asked not to go into the area. Everyone is asked to take the advice in to account when considering their travel. Those of you who may have been travelling to the Bluesfest, this has now been cancelled. You can read more here.

Travellers to Queensland are advised to check Queensland's COVID-19 alerts before you travel and to complete a NSW entry declaration form if required.

In response to a new case linked to Byron Bay urgent investigations and contact tracing are underway and NSW Health is taking a cautious approach to minimise the risk of further transmission.

As of 5pm yesterday, Wednesday 31 March, face masks are now mandatory on all public transport in the local government areas of Tweed Shire Council, Ballina Shire Council, Byron Shire Council and Lismore City Council. This will be in effect until 11.59 Monday, 5 April when further updates will be provided.

NSW Health urges everyone in NSW, especially in the Tweed, Ballina, Byron and Lismore area, even with the mildest symptoms to come forward immediately for testing and isolate until they receive a negative result. Find your nearest clinic here.

Other restrictions coming into effect for the area from 5pm yesterday include a return to the one person per 4 square metre rule at all public indoor settings including hospitality venues and a cap of 30 on the number of household visitors including at holiday rental properties. You can view a larger map of the local government areas here.

Overnight there have been some updates on the health guidance for those who have been in the Byron Bay area and also in Greater Brisbane. This Includes a requirement for returned Queensland travellers who have been in places of high concern in the last 14 days to proceed to their place of residence and not leave the residence without a reasonable excuse until 14 days has passed.

People who have been in Greater Brisbane since 20 March who are now in NSW must comply with the same stay at home restrictions that apply to Greater Brisbane, regardless of their current location. Anyone who has been to Greater Brisbane since 20 March is required to stay at home, except for essential reasons that include shopping for food and supplies, exercise, work and medical care, under the Public Health Order. People who have only transited through Brisbane Airport are excluded from these restrictions. You can read more here.

If you are required to self-isolate due to NSW Health advice and are unable to work from home special leave is available for you. You can find more information on how to access special leave on our ‘What leave, when’ section of stayinformed.

Greater Brisbane will enter a 3-day lockdown from 5pm AEST Monday 29 March to 5pm AEST Thursday 1 April.

If you have been in the area please follow the guidance for ‘Travellers from Queensland’ on the NSW Government website and check the latest confirmed case locations issued for Brisbane and Moreton Bay for 20-25 March 2021.

Been to Byron Bay recently?
The Byron Bay Hotel and ‘The Farm’ in Byron Bay have both been identified as locations of concern. If you have visited these locations between the 26 and 28 March please follow the health advice on the NSW Health website.

What this means for our services into Brisbane
There will be no NSW TrainLink services into Brisbane for the duration of the lockdown. The Sydney to Brisbane XPT, as well as any rail replacement coach services will terminate at Casino. The CLK 175/176 Casino to Brisbane coach is also cancelled for the next three days.

It’s been announced today that several restrictions will be eased across NSW from Monday 29 March. The most relevant to all of us at Transport is that from Monday mask use on public transport will move from ‘mandatory’ to ‘strongly recommended’.

A full list of other restrictions that will be eased, including a return to singing and dancing and increased numbers at gatherings can be found on the NSW Government website under ‘what you can and can’t do under the rules'.

With no community transmission and vaccinations starting to roll out it was considered to be the right time to ease restrictions. Thanks to everyone working together to stay COVIDSafe the move is a significant step towards normality and our COVID-19 recovery, especially boosting our economy by supporting businesses and jobs across the state.

From Monday 22 March, under the national rollout strategy the next phase of the vaccination program, phase 1B will begin. Those included in this phase include:

• adults over 70
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• critical and high risk workers, such as police, defence, fire and emergency workers; and
• younger adults with an underlying medical condition.

You can find a list of frequently asked questions on the NSW Health website and important links on our Stayinformed vaccination page. You can also use the COVID-19 Vaccine Eligibility Checker to check what phase of the roll out program you fall into.

The NSW Government is strongly encouraging all public sector workers to take up the vaccine when they become eligible. We are keen to see as many of our people as possible vaccinated, especially those that are at increased risk of severe complications of COVID-19. To support staff in phase 1B to receive the vaccine we will provide 2 hours of paid leave for people to have this done. More information on how to process this special leave will be available on this page soon

Yesterday the vaccination of our airport transport workers started with vaccinations taking place at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. To date our teams have transported over 140,000 people to and from quarantine hotels as part of NSW’s Passenger Quarantine Transport operations. That’s huge!

Being on the frontline of defence for people coming into Australia makes it so important that our teams are in the first round, phase 1A to be vaccinated under the national rollout strategy.

Not only will the vaccine help keep our people safe, it’s key to helping keep Australian’s safe by aiding in stopping transmission to the community from the returned travellers.

As yet there is no further update on the next phase of the roll out but as soon as there’s more information we will share it with you.

Effective 26 February 2021, restrictions were further eased across the Greater Sydney region, which includes Wollongong, the Central Coast and Blue Mountains. Under the updated order, the following rules have come into place.

• Up to 50 visitors from any number of households may visit another household on any day. The total number of visitors includes adults and children.
• Up to 30 people at a wedding may dance at any one time. Rotating people on and off the dancefloor is allowed.
• Indoor gyms are subject to the one person per 4 square metres rule(External link). A maximum of 50 people per class applies to gym and recreation classes.
• Up to 30 people in a singing group indoors is allowed. For congregations all singers will need to wear a mask.
• Cinema capacity increases to 100% of fixed seating.

To keep up to date on what you can and can’t do under the rules visit the NSW Government website(External link) which also includes advice on border restrictions for those travelling interstate.

Face masks

See STA face mask guidance

See Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink face mask guidance

Masks are now only mandatory on public transport, but they are still strongly encouraged in other indoor venues where physical distancing is difficult. This means in Greater Sydney you must continue to wear a mask in all areas that are accessible to customers even when there are no customers, as customers can arrive unexpectedly.

Exemptions remain in place for people who can’t wear a mask due to particular medical conditions or when they’re performing specific tasks or working on a vehicle not in service.

This applies to staff, contractors, volunteers and workers. More information and advice on wearing a face mask can be found here(External link).

If you wear glasses, you can check out these tips for preventing your glasses from fogging up when wearing a mask.

If you use a reusable mask, you can check out the guidance for using a reusable mask.