STRIKE action by hundreds of signallers which will hit rail services across Scotland is to go-ahead following the collapse of crisis talks today.

STRIKE action by hundreds of signallers which will hit rail services across Scotland is to go-ahead following the collapse of crisis talks today.

Angry officials at Network Rail blamed strike leaders after 11th hour attempts were made to reach an agreement in a row over rotas.

Two 24-hour stoppages planned for tomorrow and Thursday are expected to trigger the cancellation of at least half of the daily train journeys to and from Glasgow.

Train company bosses have warned the strikes, which will start at noon, will cause "severe disruption".

There will be a half hourly service between Glasgow and Edinburgh during the day on the two days, and skeleton services will run on other lines.

Services between Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, Aberdeen and Oban will be affected, as well as commuter routes in the west of Scotland.

Virgin and GNER services between Scotland and England will also be hit if the stoppages over the rotas for 450 signallers goes ahead.

David Simpson, route director of the track and maintenance giant, said: "Despite our best efforts to resolve this dispute during our talks with Acas today and on Friday, we are bitterly disappointed to inform passengers and freight operators that the RMT still intends to take strike action this week.

"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.

"We have prepared a contingency train service which aims to reduce the impact on passengers as far as possible."

Leaders of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union had resumed talks today with Network Rail, which is responsible for track maintenance, to try to broker an agreement.

But the third round of discussions involving Acas ended in failure.

Early morning train services are unlikely to be affected if the strikes go ahead, but ScotRail will be forced to "wind down" services after the rush hour. Contingency plans include bus services on some long distance routes.

Scots LibDem leader Tavish Scott has urged First Minister Alex Salmond to intervene.

First ScotRail has an emergency timetable, which can be viewed at www.firstscotrail.com