NSW’s premier will seek to rip up an enterprise agreement if rail unions proceed with a threat to deactivate the train network’s Opal card readers.

The Rail, Tram and Bus Union is reviving its plan to shut down the scanners after ditching the strategy on the weekend, following a government threat to launch court action.

The union had planned to leave station gates open from Wednesday and also deactivate the Opal readers, preventing commuters tapping on to pay for trips, as part of industrial action reported to cost the government more than $1 million a day.

Premier Dominic Perrottet says the government is poised to react if there is any more industrial action or if commuters are unable to pay for trips.

“If that action is taken, either a further strike which … inconveniences people across the state, we will seek to terminate that agreement in the Fair Work Commission (FWC),” he told Sydney radio 2GB on Tuesday.

“Any industrial activity taken on the metro system which is costing taxpayers billions, then we will also seek to terminate.”

The premier first threatened to terminate the agreement after a month of industrial action in August if there was further action.

The union said it was confident it would prevail and have the readers switched off as part of its long industrial campaign over the safety of a new intercity train fleet and wages and conditions for workers.

“We went through a fairly severe process to make sure that it was legal and above board,” RTBU secretary Alex Claassens told reporters on Monday.

“However, the government, of course, in its midnight application, identified that there may have been a particular issue with a process.”

A new application to switch off the readers was filed on Monday, which the union is confident will stand up.

“It was just a last-minute desperate bid to try and stop us from locking those gates open and allowing the commuters of NSW to travel for free,” Mr Claassens said.

A decision over whether the Opal scanners can be shut down will be made during a hearing in the Fair Work Commission (FWC) in the next 48 hours.

If the commission accepts the action, the readers will be switched off 10 days later.

The RTBU and the government met at the FWC on Monday for a second day of conciliation talks.

As part of its campaign, the union recently took Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink to the FWC in a bid to keep negotiating a new enterprise agreement and changes to Korean-built trains that have been mothballed for years, with the union saying they are not safe to operate.

– AAP

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