PASSENGERS who braved the rail strikes hitting Arriva Trains Northern may have noticed a familiar face "mucking in" on the platforms - the company's managing director.

Ray Price manned customer information points and handed out leaflets to passengers travelling during today's 24-hour conductor and station staff dispute.

He was one of many senior staff at the company who volunteered to work at stations, across Arriva's network, to minimise disruption for commuters.

Today's strike makes ATN's dispute with the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union and the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA), Britain's longest-running rail dispute since 1922.

Mr Price said Arriva customers seemed to appreciate that senior managers were getting out on the front line.

"All our managers are volunteering and I am absolutely delighted with the response from our people," he said.

"The feedback we have had from customers is very positive and they are delighted to see us making an effort and getting in among the "muck and bullets". "We recognise this is a difficult period for them, but we hope this demonstrates our commitment to providing a service."

ATN, which is based in York, said it was continuing to urge the RMT to involve the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) in talks to try to resolve the dispute.

Mr Price added: "The RMT has now taken 20 days of strike action this year and we must now ask, does the RMT really want to resolve this dispute?

"By the end of this year, our conductors will have lost around £2,500 on average, on their current pay rates, because of strike action."

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, said: "ATN and the Strategic Rail Authority blame each other for failing to end this long and bitter dispute, and our members are caught in the middle, not knowing who they can negotiate with.

"It is time for them to stop using our members as political pawns and for ATN to get round the table with us to resolve this dispute."

Updated: 10:46 Saturday, October 19, 2002