I MUST respond to Mike Straw’s complaints about Bolton only receiving refurbished rolling stock as part of the Transport Innovation Fund (TIF) proposals.

If TIF goes ahead, Bolton, like the rest of Greater Manchester, would benefit from additional carriages on trains to allow extra capacity.

At the moment. one-in-three passengers are standing due to overcrowding issues at the peak travel times in and out of the city centre. TIF will allow for a combination of both new and refurbished carriages, providing much needed additional capacity on busy routes to and from Bolton.

The commitment is to refurbish carriages — mechanics, seating, lighting and we have many examples of where this approach has been extremely successful. Just down the road in Merseyside, passengers have been delighted with the results of a recent refurbishment project, so much so that many passengers thought the stock was new.

On his second point, Mr Straw is misinformed about the proposed cycleway on the old Bury to Bolton railway line. A dedicated route has already been allocated and, in addition, detailed drawings of the route have been submitted to SUSTRAN, co-ordinator of the national cycling network.

Sir Howard Bernstein Clerk to the PTA