PASSENGERS are suffering around the clock misery on the railways with dozens of trains cancelled and delayed every day.

The industrial action by First North Western drivers has led to more than 30 trains a day which travel through Bolton being taken off the timetable.

Of the ones left in service, many more are arriving up to one hour late or being cancelled at the last minute.

A snap shot of services by the Bolton Evening News showed that almost half of the trains still running do not get to their destination on time.

Passengers who have had to live with the industrial action since the summer are losing their patience.

Early today, a look at services running through Bolton showed eight out of 15 trains were late. The 8.53am Blackpool North train was 11 minutes late.

Last Friday evening, people travelling back to stations in the area on the Blackpool North to Manchester Airport line at around 6pm had to wait until 8.25pm for a train to arrive.

Passengers were also frustrated on Friday November 8, when a snapshot of services showed 49 trains were on time and 49 trains were late. The delays ranged from the 9.53am Blackpool North train which was four minutes late to the 10.24am Manchester Airport service which was delayed by 54 minutes.

The next day, our survey showed 55 trains were on time, 12 were cancelled at the last minute and 38 were late.

Bosses claim drivers are refusing to work on their rest days -- an established practice in which employees cover for ill or absent colleagues in return for overtime pay -- leaving the company understaffed.

A spokesman for First North Western said: "We have a shortage of drivers caused by the workers' refusal to reinstate working on rest days so we cannot put on a full service.

"Our aim is to make passengers aware of our reduced timetable. We are doing everything we can to resolve the current situation."

Train drivers claim First North Western is to blame for the delays.

They say an overtime agreement between the firm and the workers, which allowed them to work on their rest days, ran out on September 28.

The company, however, tied the rest day deal into its revised pay offer to drivers -- and workers are still debating whether or not to accept the whole package.

By not separating the two, staff cannot work on their rest days since there is no agreement over how much overtime they would earn.

Colin Smith, North-west officer for train drivers union Aslef, said: "First North Western is lying to the public. We are not refusing to work on our rest days but the company has made the overtime part of its pay deal.

"While we are still deciding to accept the pay deal, we cannot work the rest days. It is financially impeding the drivers -- a clever ploy by the train company to push the workers into accepting the offer it has placed on the table."

While the dispute continues, the passengers are the ones who suffer.

Commuters will find out tomorrow if the misery is set to continue. ASLEF suspended its weekend strikes pending a referendum on the pay offer and the result is expected tomorrow. The dates for the proposed 48-hour strikes, which were suspended so a ballot could be held, were to be every Saturday and Sunday until November 24.

First North Western's improved offer gives drivers a 19 per cent pay rise, phased over three years, for a 35 hour, four day working week. The basic salary for a driver in January 2004 would be £28,000.