A strike originally scheduled for July 6 was suspended after last-minute talks yielded some progress, which included an offer to reduce the amount being docked for the two-day strike in March over the company's failure to implement the 35-hour week agreement.

However, Network Rail has now withdrawn its offer and paid no bonus at all to the signallers, who have made it clear they will not be victimised for taking action aimed at making Network Rail keep to its side of an agreement

"We suspended industrial action as a gesture of good will after the company stepped back from refusing to talks about the issues involved and some progress was made in last-minute negotiations," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"After first claiming the issue was not negotiable the company finally agreed to talks and offered to reduce the amount docked from £150 per day of strike action to £100, but the fact remains that our members are the victims in this dispute.

"It cost them two days' pay to get the company to keep to an agreement, and they are still being fined a second time by the very bosses who broke that agreement.

"The company has now inflamed the situation by withdrawing its offer altogether, and while other Network Rail members have received their bonus, the signallers have received nothing.

"That is unacceptable, and as a result the RMT executive has had no option but to give Network Rail notice of a 24-hour strike.

"I hope that Network Rail will now sit down with us tomorrow and work out a sensible solution to this dispute, but if they do not they will be responsible once more for massive disruption to rail services in Scotland next Friday.

ends

Notes to editors: Network Rail signallers and signalling supervisors will not book on for shifts that commence between 23:59 on Thursday, July 26 and 23:59 on Friday July 27.