THOUSANDS of North-East commuters are facing further misery after a dramatic escalation in the regional rail strike last night.

First, staff at stations said they would be balloting for industrial action in a new row over pay with Arriva Trains Northern.

Then, in a fresh development unrelated to the Arriva dispute, the train drivers' union Aslef said its members were planning a series of one-day walk-outs on the Tyne and Wear Metro.

The double whammy came after a second miserable day for thousands of commuters when all but a handful of Arriva services were cancelled as a result of a 48-hour strike by conductors.

Fewer than one in ten Arriva trains ran with the company apologising for the disruption to customers.

Bosses are locked in a bitter dispute with the Rail, Martime and Transport (RMT) union over pay.

Last night, analysts warned that the disagreement was costing the regional economy £7m a day.

That figure is sure to rise if the RMT's station staff decide to strike in a separate dispute with Arriva management over money.

Both Arriva and the RMT will meet for fresh talks next week to try to head off a second 48-hour strike by conductors on February 5/6.

Spokeswoman Rebecca Wilson said: "Nearly all of our services were cancelled, although the limited services that we were able to run operated to timetable."

These included a peak time Carlisle-Hexham-Newcastle service, Chester-le-Street to Newcastle and a Middlesbrough to Whitby service.

Arriva said that services would be restored fully today, although there may be some "minor delays", particularly in the morning.

It said its call centre staff had been extremely busy handling calls from travellers inquiring over which services were running.

Conductors are bidding to close the pay gap between themselves and drivers who were last year awarded a salary rise of more than 17 per cent.

Last night, with the union warning of further walkouts, passengers were rapidly losing patience.

Brian Milnes, secretary of the Tees Valley branch of Transport 2000, said it wanted a speedy solution.

"We hope and urge the striking workers not to hold another strike," he said.

"They need to get together with their managers and find a solution to this dispute.

"A lot of people have already run out of patience with the railways and more will if these strikes continue."

Meanwhile Nexus, the company behind the Tyne and Wear Metro, confirmed it was also facing industrial action.

The transport operators have been notified by Aslef of the union's intention to hold a series of one day strikes on February 4, 12, 20 and 28.

The union has refused a three per cent pay offer and balloted its 76 members within Nexus about industrial action.

Last night, the company sought to play down the threat saying Aslef staff represented less than 14 per cent of the total Metro workforce.

A Nexus spokesman said: "We are disappointed that Aslef have chosen to go public with this and threatened a strike, especially when arrangements had already been made to meet early next week to progress negotiations.

"Strike action is the last thing that Nexus or our passengers want.

"We will be working hard to ensure this does not happen.

"We have had good industrial relations for many years and value the role of the trade unions. We are hopeful that we can make progress at the meeting which has been convened for next week.