EXTRA carriages are on their way, prime minister David Cameron has promised fed-up Bolton commuters.

In an exclusive letter to The Bolton News, the prime minister reiterated his intention to put extra carriages on trains through Bolton, following criticism from his political opponents.

Mr Cameron vowed in April to deliver more carriages — the equivalent of 200 extra seats — on morning rush-hour services through Bolton, once the Manchester to Liverpool electrification was complete, following a campaign The Bolton News.

But when Network Rail announced engineering work had delayed the project, it emerged transport bosses were divided over where Bolton’s extra seats would come from.

Bolton North East MP David Crausby raised the issue in parliament last week, and now Mr Cameron has penned an open letter to the people of Bolton saying delivering extra capacity “remains a priority” for the government.

He said: “I have spelled out my commitment to get more capacity on Bolton’s busy rush hour trains.

“This will be possible once work to electrify the Manchester to Liverpool rail line is complete, bringing benefits across the North West, allowing some of the existing carriages to be freed up for us on the Bolton line.

“Network Rail has acknowledged that this electrification is taking longer than they had hoped and that is having knock on effects for Bolton.

“While this is disappointing, I want to reassure the people of the town that getting this sorted remains a priority for us and we have been clear that we fully expect Network Rail and Northern Rail to have this resolved early next year.

“This means longer trains with additional capacity — room for an extra 200 passengers in the morning peak.”

He added: “Our message is clear — the extra carriages are coming, and I have asked ministers to work with Network Rail and Northern Rail to get them to pull out the stops and make it happen as soon as possible.”

The Bolton News launched the Let’s Get Back On Track campaign last year calling for a dramatic improvement in the town’s railways, after hundreds of readers shared their horror stories of overcrowding with the paper.

Alex Hynes, Northern Rail’s managing director, said the company was committed to putting more carriages on the track.

He said: “I share the prime minister’s disappointment that the electrification being delivered by Network Rail in the north west has been delayed.

“This in turn means we are unable to release trains to tackle the crowding issues our customers in Bolton are experiencing.

“We remain committed to working with Network Rail to ensure that customers on the route will benefit from additional capacity as soon as possible.”

Mr Crausby also received a letter from Mr Cameron after quizzing him directly at prime minister’s questions last week.

He said: “I will say what I said when he first made this commitment — I will believe it when I see it.

“I’m pleased he has clarified the situation. That is what I wanted when I asked him at prime minister’s questions, for him to put it in writing.

“I won’t be satisfied until I see trains on the track, and I’m going to stay on his back until we have Bolton passengers sat on those carriages.”

Bolton West MP and chair of the Rail In The North all-parliamentary group Julie Hilling said action is desperately needed.

She said she was receiving complaints from increasing numbers of residents that they are being left on the platform at Lostock due to overcrowding.

“It’s this crazy thing that the prime minister has made a promise without consulting with the people who are running the railways,” Ms Hilling said.

“I believe we will get the 200 extra seats in the morning peak we have been promised, but that is not going to solve the problem of capacity on the Bolton corridor.

“One of the things that the government is burying its head in the sand is the whole issue of rolling stock capacity, across the whole of the network.

“There is a reality that you can’t buy UK specific diesel rolling stock at the moment. No-one is prepared to make it or prepared to buy it because of electrification.”

Cllr David Chadwick, the member in charge of transport at Bolton Council, said he was still suspicious of the prime minister’s promise and his ability to deliver.

“Any increase in capacity is welcome, but there are no multiples of carriages with 200 seats”, he said.

“What we really need is increased capacity across all the trains throughout the morning period.

“For the last two Fridays I have caught a morning train and there is virtually no standing room. It is full.

“The train operators are running on a knife-edge on capacity.”