IMAGES from nearly two decades ago show that the problem of overcrowding on Bolton’s trains is not a new phenomenon.

And to add insult to injury, this week Northern has revealed that a number of old Pacer trains that were made redundant in the north east when the train firm brought in refurbished stock from Scotland are to start operating in the area.

The company maintains that the widely hated Pacers will be out of circulation by the end of the year, but for the moment it is likely passengers will see more of them on the railway than before.

During the time Pacers have run in and out of Bolton’s stations, the quality of service has varied wildly.

Images from the period between 2000-2002 show a range of busy services, then operated by First North Western, which ran the railways in Bolton up to 2004.

More recently, figures from the end of 2018 showed that rail punctuality had slumped to a 13-year low, with nearly a fifth of Northern’s trains arriving late (17.3 per cent).

Jeff Davies, chair of the Bolton Rail Users Group, said: “Country-wide, numbers travelling by rail have more than doubled since 2000. Not enough trains are available because the previous Northern wasn’t allowed by Government to get new trains.

“The present Northern ordered 98 new trains soon after they took over in 2016. But there’s a two to three years lead time from order to being in service. The first nine have only recently arrived and are still on test. Also, around 30 existing diesel trains were due to be cascaded within Northern and from other companies after electrification. Electrification, both here and elsewhere, has been late, so the cascade has only recently started to happen.”

Responding to the news that Pacers are to be sent here from the north east, Mr Davies said: “Pacers are uncomfortable but we won’t be losing any of our existing stock just yet. That means that if any of those transferred from the north east find their way on to Bolton’s services, I would expect them to be extra to what we now have, possibly ensuring all our trains can be of four carriages. Sitting in a Pacer is better than standing in a crush on any other kind of train. The Pacers all have to go by the end of this year. If we have some more here, it might push us higher up the priority list to get some of the brand new diesels that are coming.”

In October of last year, Jake Berry the Government’s Northern Powerhouse minister, called the trains “awful”, echoing the views of many commuters.

Pacers were first introduced by British Rail between 1980 and 1987 as the answer to a shortage of trains. They were made using the same parts as buses, which is why the trains have a similar seating format to an older bus. While they were originally intended as a short-term solution only to be used on smaller rural lines, the stock has stayed in circulation for nearly four decades and is now being used in London and across Wales.

A spokesman for Northern said: “As part of improvements we are making across the Northern network, we will soon be introducing additional Class 158 trains in the north east.

“The Pacer trains we have previously operated in this area will be temporarily used to strengthen services on other routes across the north of England. Later this year we will deliver more than £600m of investment including 98 new trains that will include air conditioning, free Wi-Fi and at seat power sockets for customers. By the end of 2019 we will also retire our Pacers.”