Thousands of rail travellers face days of disruption after talks aimed at averting strike action on Scotland's services broke down yesterday.

Signalling workers for Network Rail will walk out at noon today on the first of two 24-hour strikes, with the second scheduled for noon on Thursday.

A row over staff rosters is at the heart of the dispute.

Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union officials met Network Rail managers yesterday, but failed to resolve the issue.

Network Rail said it was "bitterly disappointed" at the prospect of strikes.

Eight hours of talks held at conciliation service Acas on Friday ended without resolution, and the two sides reconvened yesterday.

David Simpson, Network Rail route director in Scotland, said: "Despite our best efforts to resolve this dispute, we are bitterly disappointed to inform passengers and freight operators that the RMT still intends to take strike action.

"We have been unable to shift the union from their position - a position that puts safety at risk by demanding safety assessments be voluntary, not compulsory."

The RMT said Network Rail wants to make changes to rostered hours, but the company claimed this was untrue. The dispute also covers the issue of transfers.

About 450 RMT union members in Scotland will take part in the action. RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "Network Rail is blatantly trying to unilaterally rewrite agreements without consulting the workforce."

As well as the strike, a ban on overtime and rest-day working is also expected to begin today.

The strike will cause hundreds of train journeys to be cancelled.

First ScotRail, which is in charge of around 95% of Scotland's services and runs more than 2100 daily, said it was "extremely disappointed" talks had broken down. It added journeys would be "severely disrupted", but that the company was running "as robust a timetable as possible in the circumstances".

Trains between Glasgow and Edinburgh will be cut by half from midday.

This will hamper workers making their way home tonight between the two cities, and again as they try to get into work tomorrow morning. This will be repeated over Thursday and Friday during the second 24-hour strike.

Trains heading north from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Aberdeen will be cut and replaced by buses. Most services from the two cities to Inverness will also be replaced by buses. Journeys in the Strathclyde area will also be hit.

First ScotRail, which is not directly involved in the dispute, said it would try to mitigate the effects by putting on as many trains as possible.

Mary Grant, managing director, said: "We are as prepared as can be in difficult circumstances."

Virgin Trains, which runs some services north of the border, said most services would run, but there would be some cancellations and alterations north of Carlisle.

While there will be some disruption to East Coast rail services, passengers will still be able to travel. A limited service will operate from stations in England to Edinburgh Waverley, but all other National Express East Coast services in Scotland will not operate.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Tavish Scott predicted "four days of chaos" and accused the Scottish Government of having "washed their hands of all responsibility". Scottish Labour accused the First Minister and the Scottish transport minister of failing to act.

The Scottish Government said it was "extremely disappointed" talks had collapsed. A spokesman said: "The First Minister has been in contact with both sides to encourage them to get back round the table."

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For all the latest information on the rail strike click on the links below:
Glasgow Edinburgh Aberdeen and Inverness
Strathclyde