Transport chiefs press for trains (From Asian Image)

Transport chiefs press for trains

10:00am Sunday 14th February 2010

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REGIONAL transport chiefs are to meet with secretary of state Lord Adonis to ask him to honour the Government’s commitment to provide more railway carriages for the region.

A delegation from Greater Manchester Integrated Transport Authority will make the case for the Government to provide the carriages as originally promised.

The Department for Transport originally planned 182 new carriages for Northern Rail but that was halved last year.

In July, the government announced rail electrification plans and promised electric carriages. But this work will not be complete until around 2017 and there was no commitment to provide extra carriages.

Earlier this week, The Bolton News reported how the GMITA feared there was no end in sight for the chronic over-crowding on many of the region’s routes.

Yesterday, chairman Cllr Keith Whitmore said: “Despite the recent recession, passenger numbers are still increasing. We must secure a commitment for the diesel carriages we so desperately need.”

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