Huge crowds attending the Australian Open are dealing with public transport chaos in Melbourne this week.
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The Rail, Tram & Bus Union took industrial action on Tuesday and several other strikes will follow until Friday.
Melbourne locals and Australian Open commuters saw all trams stop for four hours at 10am on Tuesday.
This is the fifth strike called by Yarra Trams drivers since March as discussions over pay conditions and rostering stall.
The union said these actions are their only option at this point in negotiations and another strike is scheduled for Thursday despite pleas to call it off.
"It is not necessary and our passengers have suffered enough over the last actions," Yarra Trams CEO Julien Dehornoy said.
"I believe we can get to a quick resolution if the union is willing to sit down and discuss the last issue that we have, which is part-time (employees)."
Adding to Tuesday's public transport pain, several train services were cancelled as four lines reopened amid ongoing rail works.
The RTBU claims drivers have not been appropriately trained on new tracks, with the union saying it has heard safety concerns from more than 100 drivers.
Workers refused to run the cancelled services on Tuesday, claiming their lack of training, after Fair Work had ruled that employees had no basis for health and safety concerns.
Metro Trains have filed a new application to Fair Work, claiming refusals to drive on the new tracks can be considered alleged unprotected industrial action.
The RTBU says this application personally targets 752 train drivers.
"We wouldn't let people drive a car alone without supervised training and in a train the stakes are much higher, we're dealing with thousands of passengers and very heavy machinery," RTBU Branch Secretary Luba Grigorovitch said.
Meanwhile, passengers on the Geelong and Warrnambool V/Lines are urged to plan ahead for Wednesday.
V/Line employees will take industrial action, stopping all trains on the Geelong line.
The union and V/Line have been trying to reach a new agreement for a year and industrial action was taken last December.
Ms Grigorovitch urged Transport Minister Melissa Horne to intervene in ongoing negotiations, claiming that upset commuters "need to look at the state government."
Australian Associated Press