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Rail strike misery for Scotland
3:10pm Tuesday 7th October 2008
Thousands of rail passengers faced travel misery as signal workers staged the first of two strikes this week.
Network Rail workers in Scotland walked out for 24 hours from noon and will strike again on Thursday from the same time.
The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and Network Rail management will meet for more talks on Wednesday in an attempt to resolve the dispute.
The discussions, facilitated by conciliation service Acas, are expected to take place at Network Rail's offices in Glasgow at about 2pm, just after the first strike ends.
Last-ditch talks aimed at stopping the strike collapsed on Monday after no agreement was reached on the dispute over staff rosters.
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said: "It must be a good sign that both sides are willing to resume talks and I welcome this development."
About 450 workers are involved in the dispute and the strike has been planned to stretch over four days.
Operator First ScotRail said journeys will be "severely disrupted".
As well as the strike, a ban on overtime and rest-day working started.
Thousands of passengers faced cancellations or disruptions as hundreds of journeys were cut.
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A passenger waits on the platform of Waverley station Edinburgh
Passengers wait on the platform of Waverley station ahead of the strike
A Network Rail strike in Scotland has caused disruption
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