UPDATE 3-Public sector wage talks fail in strike-hit Germany

(Adds court action over rail strike, paragraphs 11-13)

By Sabine Siebold

POTSDAM, Germany, March 7 (Reuters) - Germany faced the prospect of more crippling strikes, as train drivers called for stoppages from Monday and public sector wage talks broke down.

Talks between the government and the powerful Verdi service sector trade union ended on Friday without a wage deal for some 2 million federal and local government staff and headed for arbitration.

But Verdi, which has been demanding an 8 percent wage rise for staff, said it was unsure whether arbitration would solve the dispute and said fresh strikes were possible from April if no agreement was reached.

"I'm sceptical," Verdi chief Frank Bsirke told a news conference in Potsdam. "It has to be a viable offer."

The union has already rejected an offer of a 5 percent rise spread over two years.

Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, representing the government in the talks, said both sides had agreed to allow third-party mediation and would meet for another round of negotiations on March 29, when he hoped a deal could be sealed.

Failure to get a deal by the end of the month would probably lead to all-out strikes. In recent days, up to 100,000 workers have staged warning strikes affecting kindergartens, hospitals and public transport.