East Renfrewshire’s rail network will grind to a halt again tomorrow as a result of strike action.

Members of the RMT union who work for Network Rail are to stage a walkout over a pay dispute, with another strike planned for Saturday.

While the dispute does not involve ScotRail, signallers will be among those taking industrial action, which will have a knock-on effect that will see all local services being cancelled.

Elsewhere, a limited number of trains will be running on a small number of routes, including some which link Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Disruption is also likely to be felt on Friday and Sunday, as signal boxes are switched back on after the strike action.

David Simpson, ScotRail’s service delivery director, said: “Regrettably, this strike action by RMT members of Network Rail means we will not be able to operate the vast majority of our services during the period of strike action.

“Customers should expect significant disruption to services on strike days, as well as the following day.

“We are able to operate on more routes than on the previous day of strike action, however, we are still only able to run a very limited number of services on these routes, so we’re advising customers to seek alternative means of transport and to only travel if they really need to.”

Mick Lynch, RMT secretary general, said the dispute is “not just about a wage rise.”

He said: “The government and the employers want to slash jobs, terms and conditions, as well as services like ticket offices.

“The transport minister, Grant Shapps, is now threatening our members with P&O-style fire and rehire and the reintroduction of driver-only operated services, which will lead to a fall in safety standards and job losses.”

He added that if required the RMT is willing to use its industrial mandate to take more strike action in the coming weeks and months.