RAIL passengers are celebrating after plans for big fare hikes across the district were dropped - and they were promised the decrepit ‘Pacer’ trains will finally go.

But the pledge of new carriages came only after ministers controversially over-ruled a top civil servant who warned the £250m bill was “poor value for money”.

In an extraordinary letter, the permanent secretary at the department for transport (DfT) argued the Pacers should be modified, because scrapping them would bring “relatively few benefits”.

But Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin issued an ultra-rare ‘ministerial direction’ to order the replacement of “these uncomfortable and low-quality vehicles”.

No.10 is believed to have intervened, after David Cameron gave a personal guarantee – to the Telegraph & Argus last autumn – saying: “Those trains are going.”

Furthermore, the DfT has ordered “at least 120 new carriages”, because of a predicted shortage of diesel vehicles that could be switched to the North.

That move appears to kill fears that the Pacers – widely condemned as 30-year-old ‘cattle trucks’ – would be replaced by converted London Underground trains.

Pacers are used on the Caldervale Line between Bradford and Manchester and, sometimes, as short-term substitutes on the Airedale Line, between Bradford, Shipley and Skipton.

Mr McLoughlin said: “This means more seats, more services and a brand new fleet of modern trains.

“Unlike the last Northern franchise in 2004, which included limited plans to invest in services or meet demand, this deal will maintain investment and grow to fit the needs of passengers for years to come.”

Bidders for the new Northern Rail contract will be required to replace the Pacers by 2020, when they will no longer comply with disability discrimination laws.

In further good news, the DfT also:

* Axed a proposal for above-inflation fare hikes - to remove an alleged huge taxpayer subsidy – after protests.

* Proposed a London-style “zonal fares structure” across the North, to create a simpler system.

* Promised free Wi-Fi on all Northern trains by 2020 “at the latest”.

* Pledged up to a third more seats across the Northern networks, mainly on routes into the major cities.

The DfT had argued that Northern Rail received £707m from the taxpayer in 2013-14 – or 51.5p per passenger mile, comfortably the highest in the country.

It proposed phasing out that subsidy with inflation-busting hikes in regulated fares – now ruled out in the tender document, which states any rises will be in line with the rest of the country.

A delighted James MacColl, of the Campaign for Better Transport, said: “At last, the end of the line is in sight for the decrepit Pacers.

“The Government has listened - and the decision not to ramp up northern rail fares to pay for improvements is welcome good sense.”

The companies shortlisted for the Northern Rail franchise are Dutch-owned Abellio Northern – the current co-operator - Arriva Rail North and Govia Northern.