AT last, some good news for train passengers who travel in or around Bolton.

A new government document sent to firms that wants to take over from Northern Rail in 2017 instructs them what they should provide and it shows a decent deal for customers.

We will get new trains, old ones will be refitted and the oldest and worst will go.

Better still, the route between Bolton and Scotland will be reinstated (though it probably won't call at Bolton in the morning and evening rush hour), which means shoppers can visit Edinburgh and Glasgow for the day or the weekend without the hassle of changing trains.

But the best thing is that bidders were told for the first time that they must invest their own money into improving services, rather than just moving money around, taking away one service to spend on another.

And finally, it is good that they want to set up some kind of organisation, based in the north, to keep train operators in check.

Like Jeff Davies, of the new Bolton Rail User Group, I was impressed by the document and it certainly shows the Department for Transport is keeping to the promises David Cameron made when he visited The Bolton News offices last year to talk about this issue.

But (there is always a but...) the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.

It is important that this document does not just become a mere "wish list" and that the DfT ensures the winning bidder actually sticks to its demands.

We do not want the tendering version of being stuck at a station waiting for a delayed train, which the screen says will arrive in five minutes, only for it to be cancelled.

Tough times are ahead this summer with Moses Gate, Farnworth and Kearsley stations closed and Bolton station closed at weekends for five months and there will be lots of disruption.

Let us hope that the latest announcement serves as an incentive for passengers to stick it out.