TALKS aimed at averting strikes by rail workers in a dispute over pay have resumed.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at Network Rail (NR) are due to walk out for 24 hours from next Thursday evening and 48 hours the following week, threatening travel chaos after a new pay offer was rejected.

The two sides agreed to meet at the conciliation service Acas to try to resolve the dispute and avert strike action and have entered their third day of talks this morning.

The scheduled walkout has been criticised by transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin who has claimed Network Rail pay has increased eight times faster than other public sector workers in past four years.

Department for Transport figures also showed that Network Rail staff salaries had increased by 39% over past decade compared to average of 16% in public sector.

A planned strike over the bank holiday was suspended after Network Rail tabled a fresh pay offer.

NR originally offered a four-year deal - £500 this year, followed by three years of increases in line with RPI inflation.

The new offer was for two years - a 1% rise this year and around 1.4% next year, with no compulsory redundancies for the duration of the agreement.