A walk-out by signal workers across Scotland from noon today was set to force the cancellation of many services and threatens continuing disruption until Friday evening.
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And Phil McGarry, regional officer of the Rail Maritime and Transport union in Scotland, hinted there could be further stoppages, possibly spreading to other parts of Britain.

He 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."

Rail companies said they were trying to run as many trains as possible.

But trains between Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Queen Street were running every 30 minutes instead of every 15 minutes from 11am today.

And the last departure from Waverley was scheduled for 5.45pm, with the last train from Glasgow at 6pm.

Reduced services were also operating between Edinburgh and Fife, Bathgate, North Berwick and Stirling.

The RMT claimed rail bosses were putting safety at risk by bringing in managers from England to operate signals after just a few hours' training.

Mr McGarry said: "Some managers have had three-and-a-half hours' briefing to operate signalling boxes. We believe this is a dangerous practice and they are putting passenger safety at risk." Network Rail denied there was any lack of training or competence among staff brought in to cover during the strike.

A spokeswoman said: "In most cases they will be more qualified than signallers here."

The dispute, involving more than 400 signal workers, centres on the number of rest days for staff undertaking new work rosters. Three hours of talks on Monday failed to reach agreement.

RMT members voted for industrial action last month over what they describe as a failure to honour a 35-hour week agreement and the abuse of rostering agreements.

Network Rail said it was disappointed that the RMT was going ahead with the strike "without fully exploring all the negotiation opportunities".

Stagecoach has organised 1200 extra coach seats on its Scottish Citylink and Megabus services for inter-city travel.

The firm said more than 20 additional coaches would be on standby in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee, Inverness and Perth to react to extra demand as a result of cancelled rail services.

Robert Andrew, managing director of Stagecoach Scotland, said: "We are a major provider of bus and coach services in Scotland and we have been working hard to ensure rail passengers have access to alternative transport on a number of key routes, particularly at peak times.

"We are expecting a significant increase in demand for inter-city coach travel and we will be making hundreds of extra seats available on services linking Scotland's main cities."

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Thousands of Scots stranded by rail strike

Glasgow Evening Times: 7 March 2007
by Gordon Thomson

THOUSANDS of train passengers were left stranded today as a 48-hour rail strike began at noon.

Dozens of trains in and out of Glasgow have been cancelled, despite attempts by First ScotRail to offer a limited service.

Many other services - including the flagship Glasgow-Edinburgh route - have been cut back.

Fewer than 30% of services were running from noon today until midday on Friday.

Travellers were forced to make last-minute alternative arrangements, with more cars on the roads and a desperate scramble for buses.

Parts of Lanarkshire, including Cumbernauld and Motherwell, were left without any trains, as were parts of Ayrshire, including Kilmarnock as well as Paisley Canal, Shotts, Springburn and Dalmuir.

Passengers face travel misery until Friday afternoon - and again over the Easter weekend.

And there was a warning today of more strikes after union leaders blamed managers for the 48-hour walkout by 450 signalling staff in a row over working hours.

Commuters at Glasgow Central Station were today handed print-outs of revised timetables.

The RMT union warned more walkouts were likely in the dispute. General secretary Bob Crow said: "These issues have been resolved elsewhere but in Scotland there appear to be managers who want to make a name for themselves."

RMT officials are probing the possibility of a national strike ballot.

Phil McGarry, the union's regional officer, said: "We will analyse our next move at the end of our 48-hour strike.

"Whatever happens there's a real chance the dispute will escalate into Britain-wide industrial action."

The dispute centres on union claims that managers have failed to honour a 35-hour week agreement and are breaching rostering agreements.

Network Rail said it was disappointed the strike had gone ahead "without fully exploring all the negotiation opportunities".

David Simpson, route director for Network Rail Scotland, labelled the strike action as "regrettable" and "unnecessary".

He insisted the company was willing to hold talks with the RMT at any time.

"The door is open and we'd love to talk and sort this," he said.

"We've offered to go to (arbitration service) Acas to have this matter resolved, but the RMT has refused and passengers are suffering as a result."

He insisted safety was not being put at risk, in response to reports that signallers from England are set to be brought in to cover the walkout in Scotland.

Mr Simpson added: "There's no safety concern whatsoever.

"We have contingency plans for this sort of occasion.

"We want to keep some level of service going so we can keep passengers on the move."

Commuters travelling into Glasgow today from the city's South Side said the strike would be very disruptive.

Primary school teacher Laura Boyle, 26, travels from Crosshill Station to Glasgow Centre and then on to Anderson station.

She said: "I'm now going to have to walk to Sauchiehall Street and get the bus to Victoria Road and then walk for 15 minutes with all my books.

"It doesn't make any difference if there is a limited service because I'll still be late."

Glasgow University worker Jasmin Moroney, 28, was waiting for a train at Queen's Park station.

She said: "I get one train to Central and then one to Anniesland, so I'm going to have to get the bus home tonight.

"It's probably going to take an hour-and-a-half, whereas the train takes around half-an-hour, so it's an inconvenience."

Project officer Ross Thomas, 25, said: "I'm going to university after work tonight so I'm going to have to walk home at around 9pm, which is not great in this weather.

"It really is a pain in the neck."

Eleanor, a 29-year-old student who did not want to give her last name, said: "I'm going to be affected with the limited service stopping around 5pm because I'll be coming back home at that time.

"I don't know what I'll do, I might just have to walk back and it's a 40-minute walk."