North-East commuters endured another miserable day as rail workers caused more chaos.

Services across the North-East were crippled when conductors and other staff at Arriva Trains Northern began a 48-hour stoppage.

Extra buses were laid on but fewer than 40 per cent of normal services were running. Bob Crow, general secretary of the Rail Maritime & Transport Union, who joined pickets outside Doncaster railway station, said the strikes proved that railway workers did not believe they were being treated fairly on pay.

The RMT has been seeking to close the wage gap between guards and drivers and Mr Crow blamed the disputes on different rates of pay across the country. He accused train operators outside London of paying less to their staff which he said was causing "bitterness and resentment".

Police officers across the country did not receive different rates of pay, he said. Members of the normally moderate Transport Salaried Staffs Association joined today's strike against Arriva the first time the union has been involved in industrial action for almost 30 years.

The company said it hoped to run 700 trains and 500 bus services, almost 40 per cent of the usual number but union leaders disputed these figures.