AGEING ‘Pacer’ trains still running across the North will finally be replaced, a transport minister vowed today (Wednesday).

Stephen Hammond said dumping the hugely-unpopular “cattle trucks” – now almost 30 years old – would be a requirement for winning a new contract to run services.

That contract, for the Northern Rail franchise, is due to be awarded late next year and awarded in February 2016. Bids will be sought in December.

During a Commons debate, Mr Hammond told MPs: “We expect to ask bidders for the Northern franchise to put forward proposals for the removal of Pacers from the area.”

The pledge came as North-East MPs tore into the “shocking” quality of Pacer trains on local rail services across the North.

Hartlepool MP Iain Wright said: “They are little more than cattle trucks and are totally unsuitable for a modern rail network.”

The Labour MP read out a letter from a constituent who protested that they “frequently break down due to age and disrepair. They lack an operative heating system and are filthy”.

And Andy McDonald, the Middlesbrough MP, said: “The performance is shocking. The travel time from Saltburn to Darlington is 53 minutes.

“The last time I was on a Pacer 142, I was horrified to see that, where a seat had become detached from its iron frame, it had been bolted back and new cloth had been put on.”

Northern Rail is believed to operate around 100 Pacers on routes across the North-East and Yorkshire, despite their unpopularity with passengers.

Brought in as a stop-gap – way back in the mid-1980s - they consist of a bus body mounted on a freight wagon chassis, with a diesel engine slung underneath.

The rail regulator has expressed “concern over the ongoing use of Pacers beyond their intended design life”, although there is no suggestion they are unsafe.

Indeed, Northern Rail has accepted they need replacing, but warned a new train would cost about six times as much as a Pacer in leasing charges.

During the debate, Mr Hammond also gave ground over the controversy that will see trains swiped from the North to serve Oxfordshire, from next year.

Nine locomotives are due to be taken from the TransPennine Express franchise, which also runs trains across the region, a decision taken by a rolling stock leasing company.

Mr Hammond conceded the switch was a “problem” – while denying suggestions that David Cameron’s constituency in the Chilterns would benefit.

And he said it was now likely that fewer than nine trains would be switched, saying: “The Government are well aware of the problem and will ensure that a solution is found.

“Discussions are taking place about how many of those trains Chiltern will need in 2015. An opportunity will exist for TransPennine to retain some of the units until March 2016.”