A Bolton MP has hit out at the government’s ‘broken promises’ to improve the train service and add more carriages on the journey to and from Manchester.
His reaction comes after Chancellor George Osborne’s announcement in last week’s Autumn Statement that Northern Rail’s Pacer trains are to be replaced as part of new franchise agreements.
However, Bolton’s Labour MP, David Crausby claims that Labour Transport spokesperson Lillian Greenwood admitted in Parliament last week that train companies bidding for the new Northern Rail franchise will be ‘encouraged’, not ‘required’ to replace the Pacers.
Mr Crausby said: “After overcrowding, the biggest concern I hear from commuters is that our Northern Rail trains are incredibly old and uncomfortable.
“I was pleased to hear that the Chancellor planned to replace them: I thought we might actually be getting some overdue investment into local services.”
The Bolton North East MP has long been a campaigner for more carriages on the Bolton to Manchester line, having tackled the Prime Minister on the issue at Prime Minister’s Questions last month.
He said: “Last week I met the train operator who said they don’t know how many seats there will be, and they don’t know when they will be available – but certainly not by the end of the year. Can he explain why his promise has been broken?”
Mr Cameron promised to explain the situation to Mr Crausby, saying: “We are making huge investment into rail services in and around Greater Manchester, including in his own constituency.”
However, it now appears that the promised new carriages are not going to materialise, causing misery to commuters.
Mr Crausby said: “It’s all been smoke and mirrors, there’s no new money and there will be no requirement on companies bidding to run our line to replace the outdated trains.
“It’s another broken promise from this Government that will leave local residents disappointed. This comes on the back of David Cameron’s recent broken promise to provide extra carriages for the Bolton line before the end of the year.”
Image courtesy of Ingy the Wingy, with thanks
