V/Line strike halts Victoria's regional rail network, leaving thousands of commuters delayed

Major disruptions hit Victoria's regional train network on Wednesday morning, with striking workers bringing the network to a halt. 

V/Line conductors, train controllers and customer service staff walked off the job at 3am.

The strike officially finished at 7am, with V/Line saying "delays and cancellations will continue across the day".

Here's what you need to know.

Why are V/Line workers striking?

A pay dispute between the Rail Tram & Bus Union (RTBU) and V/Line has been dragging on for months.

The union said staff at Metro Trains, which operates the Melbourne network, recently agreed to a 17 per cent pay rise over four years, and that V/Line staff wanted the same.

"The RTBU has been bargaining with V/Line for a replacement agreement since June," RTBU secretary Vik Sharma said, adding that Wednesday's industrial action had broad support among members.

"An overwhelming majority of members, around 93 per cent of those who voted, have voted in favour of industrial action,"  he said.

How will the action impact commuters?

V/Line ran replacement buses along each line from 5:30am, but last week warned delays of up to two hours were expected.

"Passengers are advised to avoid travelling in the morning as a very limited coach replacement service will operate with significant delays expected," V/Line said in statement.

"Trains will progressively return from 8am but delays and cancellations will continue across the day, and services may be busier than usual while we work to recover the timetable."

Extreme weather conditions across the state threatened to cause further impacts with temporary speed restrictions expected to add to delays. 

V/Line CEO Matt Carrick said the organisation is continuing its negotiations with the union. 

"V/Line is committed to employing more people and providing wage rises but we want an agreement to be fair, we want it to be sensible and we want it to be affordable," he said.

Last week he urged the union to rethink the action, and said it would affect thousands of Victorians.

A spokesperson for the Victorian government has said V/Line is committed to both reaching a fair outcome, and also ensuring the operation of its services during the action. 

Mr Sharma on Tuesday said he was hopeful an agreement could be reached soon but didn't shy away from future action if that wasn't the case.  

"We have been negotiating in good faith and remain hopeful an agreement can be reached soon," he said.

Victorian commuters frustrated by strike action

The strike action caused chaos for some early morning commuters heading into work on Wednesday morning.

Emma was commuting into work from Wyndham Vale and said while she was understanding of the strike action, it was a huge inconvenience.

"It does affect a lot of people doing this, it's not really fair on everyone else who is also trying to make a living," she said.

"I've gotten here half an hour earlier than I normally do and I still don't know if I'm going to get to work on time."

Emma said she didn't know what she would do if the strike action were to continue long-term.

"I don't drive, I don't have enough money for Ubers everyday, so I actually don't know how I'll work it out," she said.

Despite the strike ending at 7am, services were slow to resume with several trains being cancelled in the hours following.

Taylor, who was due to start work at 8am, was more than 40 minutes late due to cancelled train services.

"It does put a lot of people out of their way, but if that's what they have to do, that's what they have to do," she said.

V/Line operators on Wednesday afternoon reported that lightning strikes had caused further train delays on the Bendigo line.

In a social media post, the regional rail network said the lightning had caused equipment faults at Castlemaine and Woodend.