Thousands of Scots travellers facing strike chaos today were warned last night they face further disruption after rail workers refused to rule out future industrial action.

Scotland is set to experience travel problems from noon today as a 48-hour train strike brings misery for travellers throughout the country.

All the major train operators - FirstScotrail, GNER and Virgin Trains - have pledged to run as many services as possible while Stagecoach, which runs buses between Scotland's major cities, is bracing itself for an influx of new travellers.

But with the train timetable slashed, motoring chiefs are predicting Scotland is likely to be hit by traffic chaos as more people travel to work in their cars.

The situation is set to get worse as rail unions are threatening further action that could disable the rail network throughout Britain.

Phil McGarry, regional officer of the Rail Maritime and Transport union in Scotland and Northern Ireland, said: "We have instructed our general secretary Bob Crow to look into balloting all signalmen supervisors throughout Britain for strike action in the light of what has happened in Scotland and the way our members have been treated.

"We will analyse our next move at the end of our 48-hour strike and decide what action to take if the matter is not resolved.

"Whatever happens there is a real chance that the dispute will escalate into British-wide industrial action."

The strike involves more than 400 signal workers in a dispute over the number of rest days provided for staff undertaking new work rosters. Both sides in the row failed to reach any agreement over rest days at the end of a three-hour meeting on Monday.

Mr McGarry said there had been no move by management since to try to find a resolution to the strike that was called after a row over the hours the 400 signalmen in Scotland were expected to work.

But David Simpson, Network's Rail Route Director, claimed the union had not fully explored all the negotiating opportunities open to them and vowed to keep as many trains running as possible during the 48 hour stoppage.

Neil Greig, policy director of the motoring organisation the IAM Trust, said: "Commuters who have not already worked out an alternative way of getting to work face a trying three days. I would urge commuters to look at car sharing and possibly using other means of public transport, like the buses, to get to work."

A Stagecoach spokesman said they would provide hundreds of extra bus and coach seats to help rail passengers hit by strike action.