CAMPAIGNERS have dismissed as "a farce" the government's pledge to put 1,000 extra carriages on Britain's railways by 2014.

Train operators welcomed the announcement which they said would benefit regional services such as the crammed Bolton to Manchester services.

Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander said the annual £130 million investment, to begin in 2009, was an "important first step" in tackling overcrowding.

But Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Campaign chairman Tony Fawthrop branded his speech "typical government hype".

"It's a farce," he said.

"There are already vast numbers of perfectly good carriages made surplus when Virgin introduced Pendolinos and Voyagers.

"Most of them are either being scrapped, rotting in sidings or have been bought by priavte companies for charter.

"There's also a large number of diesel units available because of the new fleet introduced for the TransPennine franchise."

Announcing the investment at a London rail conference, Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander said the government would "specify that 1,000 new carriages should be targeted at the most congested routes to effectively tackle passenger demand.

"My department is actively considering exactly where these carriages need to be added and has very recently begun to discuss with train manufacturers how they can cost-effectively be delivered."

George Muir, of the Association of Train Operating Companies, said: "We've got to see the details, but a thousand carriages, when we get them on the track carrying passengers, that'll make a lot of difference."

The extra carriages could increase capacity by 20 per cent and benefit regional services around cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool, he said.

Carolyn Watson, of Northern Trains which operates many services through Bolton, said: "Today's announcement is great news for passengers and we eagerly await further information from the government about how these carriages will be deployed."

The company has been in negotiations with regional transport officials over the possibility of leasing extra carriages to increase capacity, as it has done in West Yorkshire.

Overcrowding is among the issues for discussion at a meeting of the Bolton Local Transport Public Forum at the Quaker Meeting House, Silverwell Street, at 2pm tomorrow. People who want to raise issues about any aspect of public transport can attend an operators surgery at 1.15pm.