PACER TRAINS

That this House welcomes the Chancellor of the Exchequer's statement that "one of the experiences of people in the North is the feeling that the carriages are not as good as those in the South of England"; notes his willingness to address that issue in the new franchise agreements but views with concern suggestions from other quarters of Government that the near obsolete and unpopular Pacer carriages may survive with modifications into the next franchise period; and urges the Government and Angel Trains to consider them as scrap and surplus to requirements.