NSW heads to court to try and block union plan to deactivate Opal readers at train stations

The New South Wales government is headed to court in a bid to block union plans to deactivate Opal readers at train stations as part of an ongoing industrial stoush.

The move follows legal advice received by the government that the proposed action is prima facie unlawful, he said in a statement on Saturday.

Elliott said the matter was expected to be heard within 48 hours.

He said the government remained committed to bargaining in good faith but would take all measures to ensure taxpayer assets were not tampered with.

The union plans to leave station gates open as it did last month but this time the Opal readers will also be deactivated, preventing commuters tapping on, rather than giving them an option not to.

Not all stations have gates, although the action will also deactivate stand-alone payment poles at suburban stations.

The Opal system is operated by a private company and Elliott said on Thursday he planned to seek advice on whether the union action would result in the government having to pay any penalties under its contract.

The RTBU is among unions that recently took Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink to the Fair Work Commission in a bid to keep negotiating a new enterprise agreement and modifications to a fleet of new intercity trains it says is not yet safe to operate.

The NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, declared negotiations were over at the end of August, after a month of industrial action disrupting services across several days.

He threatened termination of an enterprise agreement if there was further industrial action.