Public Transport Minister Melissa Horne warned of a "significant increase" in the number of motorists colliding with trams, stating that collisions were occurring on the city's most congested roads.

"If you're a motorist, be aware of the tram that's next to you. They can't swerve, they can't stop easily. Also, if you're a pedestrian, do things like take your earphones out; nothing is worth a collision with a tram if you're checking a text message."

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Outside the CBD, there were 52 crashes on St Kilda Road, 40 on Nicholson Street, 34 on Toorak Road and Bridge Road and 28 on Clarendon Street.

These incidents result in 10 of the city's 450 trams being out of service at any given time. Motorists were at fault in 97 per cent of the collisions recorded by the government.

Yarra Trams' chief executive Nicolas Gindt said tram drivers were taught defensive driving techniques to avoid crashes but there were 100,000 extra cars being added to the roads each year, which was driving up the incidents.

"The growth of the traffic is the main cause of the incidents," he said.

There were almost 40 serious passenger falls on trams last year, which means 40 people were admitted due to injuries caused by incidents or near misses.

The son of an elderly man who suffered serious injuries in a tram collision in 2017 has also joined the call for caution.

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Michael Miller's father lost his balance and banged his head while travelling on a tram that collided with a car.

The father, Jeff Miller, was hospitalised for six weeks after dislocating his shoulder, fracturing two vertebrae and breaking a collarbone.

"He has not been the same. A 79-year-old man who was extremely mobile prior to the accident [is now] learning how to walk again," Mr Miller said.

"He is almost fully recovered but life is a new normal for my father.

"We would really like to see that everybody takes these messages extremely seriously."

The safety message comes as Yarra Trams staff are deciding on how and when to launch industrial action in coming weeks, after about 1500 tram drivers and customer service personnel voted to take action in pursuit of a 6 per cent annual wage rise.

Proposed actions include a 48-hour strike, a refusal to check myki passes or wear uniforms.

Mr Gindt said this was a "disappointing outcome" and the company had applied for a conciliation process to be mediated by the Fair Work Commission to avert strike action.

"I believe that industrial action is not necessary," he said.

Yarra Trams is offering a 3 per cent pay rise.

Rail staff, in their dispute with Metro Trains, have called off plans to not check mykis or wear uniforms on Monday this week and the following Monday, with the Rail, Tram and Bus Union citing "constructive conversations" it had with Metro over the weekend.

The two parties in the rail dispute are expected to return this week for escalated negotiations, but union members are still planning to walk off the job for four hours on August 27 if an agreement is not reached.

Ms Horne said she had spoken to both Metro and the union, but would not confirm if the government had weighed in on the weekend to help achieve the breakthrough.

"Today has been a really good outcome for passengers, I've talked to both parties and encouraged them to sit down and negotiate and that's what we're seeing has occurred," the minister said.