NICK Clegg has joined calls to scrap the North’s decrepit ‘Pacer’ trains – arguing it is “ludicrous” that they are still running.

The deputy prime minister said the 30-year-old vehicles would be considered “wholly unacceptable” if inflicted on passengers elsewhere in the country.

And he promised proposals within months to ensure key decisions about trains are not taken “over the heads of people in the North”, by officials in London.

However, the Liberal Democrat leader stopped short of guaranteeing that the Pacers will go, as part of the new Northern Rail contract, to be introduced in 2016.

Quizzed by The Northern Echo at Westminster, Mr Clegg replied: “I can’t stand here and wave a magic wand.”

The Northern Echo revealed that the Pacers may yet be “modernised” to keep them running for at least another decade – breaking an earlier pledge.

Industry insiders say the U-turn is being considered because new trains may not be ready for 2020, when the 90 remaining Pacers will fall foul of disability discrimination laws.

Furthermore, diesel trains will be transferred to Northern Rail routes after electrification schemes on other lines – but those schemes have uncertain completion dates.

Yet big fare hikes are – controversially - being considered on Northern Rail routes with the justification that passengers will be enjoying better, more comfortable services.

Asked about the Pacers, Mr Clegg, a Sheffield MP, said: “I don’t think it’s fair that my constituents, and commuters across the North, have to travel on rolling stock which would be deemed wholly unacceptable on other lines elsewhere in the country.

“It’s ludicrous that people have to travel on overcrowded, out-of-date rail carriages on services that crawl from one city to another.”

Earlier this year, the Lib Dems set up ‘Northern Futures’ a project to encourage people across the North to put forward proposals to stimulate the economy, including better transport.

Mr Clegg said: “This would really devolve control over the planning and management of transport infrastructure across the North of England, to do what’s desperately needed.

“It would make sure the North stands firmly on its own two feet and that these decisions are not taken over the heads of people in the North.”

However, such a shake-up may come too late for the new Northern Rail franchise, with the detailed specifications to be unveiled in December.

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

Because they fit so poorly to the track, with slow acceleration and a need to brake early for station stops, delays are all-too common in autumn and winter.

*The Northern Echo launched its The Right Lines campaign earlier this month urging the Government to seize the opportunity presented by the search for new operators to run the Northern Rail and TransPennine Express services to deliver a strategy of ongoing investment.