IT has taken some time for the main political parties to work out where they stand on The Northern Echo's call for a better deal on railways for the North.

With the lucrative franchises up for grabs for the Northern Rail and TransPennine Express services, the Right Lines campaign has called for out-dated Pacer trains to be replaced with modern, more comfortable trains, along with faster connections, greater reliability, and fair prices.

Up until now, the Government's disappointing line has been that 30-year-old Pacers would be "modernised" rather than replaced. Nick Clegg, meanwhile, recently attacked the "decrepit" Pacers but said he "couldn't wave a magic wand". And Labour's transport spokeswoman Mary Creagh was strongly criticised by this newspaper for failing to come up with a view at all, arguing that our questions on the matter were unfair because she hadn't been briefed by civil servants. Ms Creagh has since been reshuffled into the sidings of international development by Ed Miliband.

But wait. Suddenly, David Cameron has hurtled down the track with a bold promise to rid the North of its Pacer trains, declaring: "Those trains are going."

It is a pledge that we welcome, given that it is a key objective of our campaign. There is, however, a catch – the passengers of the north will have to pay for their more modern trains with a hike in fares.

The Department for Transport claims that local commuter fares are higher in the South than the North, but that does not take into account average wage differentials.

The Prime Minister's vow represents progress for the North but the debate and the lobbying must go on.

Now that Ms Creagh has been shunted, we await a more robust vision from Labour via her replacement, Michael Dugher.

Let's hope he has been well briefed.