Five key questions about the Sydney train network fiasco

While the New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, insisted on Wednesday that he still had confidence in Elliott, he rebuked his failure to tell members of the government of the looming crisis and for the decision to go to bed while the department scrambled to resolve industrial action taken by the Rail, Tram and Bus Union (RTBU).

Substantial gaps and contradictions remain in the timeline leading up to the decision to close the network.

Transport for NSW has refused to answer questions about when the minister was briefed, and Elliott has at times offered contradictory statements about when he was informed.

The Guardian has attempted to summarise the key questions raised this week, and what we know about the situation to date.

The events leading up to the decision to close the network have become a matter of contention, and Elliott has offered different versions of what occurred.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Elliott said that he had gone to bed between 11pm and 12am on Sunday night, and had not been aware of the looming shutdown when he went to sleep.

It was certainly after 11pm that he went to sleep, because at 11.10pm he posted a photo to his personal Facebook account of NSW police officers attending a Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras event.