British chancellor George Osborne has confirmed that ‘Pacer’ units in the north of England will be replaced during the course of the new Northern franchise.
In his Autumn statement, Osborne said the new franchise would “encourage bidders” to replace the old stock.
A shortlist of bidders for the Northern franchise was published in August. At the time the Department for Transport (DfT) said prospective operators would need to put forward proposals to replace Class 142s and 144s.
In March, the current operator of the Northern franchise, a Serco-Abellio joint venture, was given an extension to keep control of the route until February 2016. The negotiations also resulted in the DfT agreeing to give the operator 14 Class 319, formerly of First Capital Connect, to introduce onto a newly electrified section of railway between Liverpool and Manchester.
No doubt they will sacrifice the Pacer’s one advantage – plenty of space to carry cycles, prams and suchlike.
whats wrong with what they got
“encourage” – a good weasel word! And every train will be retired. The question is when?
What about in the South West?
The London Underground D78 District Line stocks known to be classified as Class 278 Former D stocks District Line fleet would take over to operate on First Great Western Arriva Trains Wales and Northern Rail with the pacers to be scrapped. But Hitachi could also be building new trains to take over when the Pacer trains are to be scrapped.