Union officials have announced plans for a further 11 one-day stoppages by ScotRail drivers, in an escalation of their action over pay and conditions.

Aslef said its members would take part in 24-hour strikes on a series of dates between 26 March and 15 May.

The final strike date, 15 May, coincides with the European Champions League Final at Glasgow's Hampden Park, meaning travel chaos for thousands of football fans.

The announcement of more stoppages came during the fourth one-day strike by drivers.

	ScotRail dispute Four one-day strikes so far 11 more by mid-May Drivers want new pay package For more: State of the railways

Mick Rix, Aslef's general secretary, said: "ScotRail has failed to make anything like an acceptable offer to settle this dispute.

"I hope it will now do so before its intransigence leads to further disruption."

A spokesman for ScotRail said: "We are extremely disappointed.

"This means more inconvenience for our passengers and more disruption to the business.

"Nevertheless we remain committed to exploring ways we can achieve a compromise settlement that will satisfy both the drivers' aspirations and at the same time be affordable to ScotRail."

'Sort it out'

The announcement was made as Transport Minister Wendy Alexander visited Aberdeen, and again said that the government would not step into the dispute.

"We keep saying to those employers and trade unions, get round the table and get this sorted out," she said.

"We are not prepared to see a return to old-style industrial relations frankly from another era."

Strike dates

26 and 28 March 2/3 April (midday to midday) 9/10 April (midday to midday) 16 and 18 April 23/24 April (midday to midday) 30/1 May (midday to midday) 7, 9 and 15 May

Robert Samson, deputy secretary of the Rail Passengers Committee Scotland, backed calls for more talks.

He said: "We would ask both sides to sit down round the table and negotiate.

"We would ask Aslef to quantify what their pay demands are, what productivity aspects of the deal they are willing to accept and agree a value to these aspects and look for a compromise."

The last round of talks between the Aslef and RMT unions and ScotRail, under the auspices of the conciliation service Acas, broke down last week.

Offer 'unacceptable'

Union officials, who have been seeking pay parity with some drivers south of the border, said ScotRail was trying to impose a number of "strings".

They said that the company's offer of �26,295 - rising to �27,896 by January 2004 - was "totally unacceptable" because of cuts in public holidays and sickness pay.

But ScotRail's acting managing director Nick Brown described the unions' stance as "madness" and said that any pay rise above the 3% already offered would have to be financed through productivity agreements.