RAIL infrastructure workers moved onto a “national dispute” footing today in response to a threat of thousands of job and safety cuts at Network Rail.

The RMT union, which has 20,000 members in track maintenance and signalling, reacted angrily to plans revealed by the state-owned company that include a shocking 50 per cent reduction in safety-critical maintenance.

RMT described the plans as a return to the “disastrous days of Railtrack,” when cost-led corner-cutting by the then privatised company led to the Hatfield crash of 2000 in which four people died and 70 were injured.