RAIL passengers are hopeful that an £800,000 train carriage refit will benefit East Lancashire.

Northern Rail has confirmed it is undertaking a widescale refurbishment of its rolling stock.

And after recent heavy rains caused water to leak into carriages on the Colne to Blackburn service, angry commuters want action.

Dylan Johnson, 63, of Rosegrove, said: “I would have been drier if I’d walked.

“We always seem to get the worst trains going.”

The Class 142 Pacer trains on the line were introduced in 1985.

The Blackpool to Colne service, which calls at Blackburn, Accrington and Burnley, uses some of the oldest carriages in the operator’s fleet.

Slightly more modern 155 diesel units can usually be found on the express service to York and Leeds and the Clitheroe to Manchester line.

A Northern Rail spokesman said the refurbishment should be completed at depots in the north east and Merseyside by next March.

The operator sparked controversy last week when the Lancashire Telegraph revealed Northern had no spare trains to run the promised new East Lancashire to Manchester route next May.

Meanwhile, regular passengers can quiz Northern representatives on engineering works scheduled for early next month.

An operation will start on November 9 to strengthen the Holme Tunnel, in Cliviger, ahead of the completion of the nearby Todmorden Curve.

And on November 3 Northern officials will be on hand at Blackburn railway station to answer detailed questions on the project.

Replacement bus services will run between Burnley Manchester Road and Hebden Bridge, en-route to Leeds and York, and vice versa, until March 28.