A second 24-hour rail strike is underway in Scotland today after talks between the RMT and employers broke down.
The first nationwide walkout by union members was on Tuesday and a third one is due on Saturday.
Major disruption is being experienced by rail services across Scotland.
The north-east is being badly hit on the strike days, as there are no ScotRail services between the area and the rest of Scotland.
It could be Monday before services improve significantly on the railways north of the border ScotRail has warned that, on the days following strike action, there will be disruption caused by the reopening of signal boxes at different times across the country.
Tens of thousands of Network Rail staff in Britain are striking in a dispute over pay, working conditions and redundancies.
Many sectors hit
Scottish shops, hotels, restaurants, bars and tourist attractions are among those worst affected, while commuters and tourists are also suffering.
The RMT has accused UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps of "wrecking" negotiations by refusing to allow Network Rail to withdraw redundancy threats.
A spokesman for the Department for Transport said it was encouraging the union and industry to agree a deal to call off the strikes.
"Although the Government is not the employer, ministers remain extremely close to the issues on both sides and the ongoing discussions," he said.
"We will also continue to look at everything we can do to minimise disruption to protect the travelling public who are the innocent victims in this."
The UK Government has today unveiled a change in the law allowing the supply of skilled agency workers to plug staffing gaps during industrial action.
Trade-union laws
Under current trade-union laws, employment businesses are restricted from sending temporary agency workers to fill duties by employees on strike.
Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: "Once again, trade unions are holding the country to ransom by grinding crucial public services and businesses to a halt. The situation we are in is not sustainable.
"Repealing these 1970s-era restrictions will give businesses freedom to access fully skilled staff at speed, all while allowing people to get on with their lives uninterrupted to help keep the economy ticking.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps added: "Despite the best efforts of militant union leaders to bring our country to a standstill, it's clear this week's strikes did not have the desired impact due to more people being able to work from home. However, far too many hard working families and businesses were unfairly affected by union's refusal to modernise.
"Reforms such as this legislation are vital and will ensure any future strikes will cause even less disruption and allow adaptable, flexible, fully-skilled staff to continue working throughout."
The Government has also announced today that it is raising the maximum damages that courts can award against a union, when strike action has been found by the court to be unlawful. The caps on damages, which have not been changed since 1982, will be increased. For the biggest unions, the maximum award will rise from £250,000 to £1million.