They have to be one of the most loathed sights in the north.

Pacers, the rickety old trains that were long ago meant to be replaced, cause hearts to sink and blood pressure to rise from here to Carlisle as they slowly rattle along, the wind whistling through their ancient windows.

The latest big announcement from the Department for Transport, therefore, may raise some eyebrows.

One year after the northern rail meltdown, ministers are launching a ‘competition’ for ideas on how to reinvent Pacers when they finally disappear from our railways - representing ‘an exciting opportunity’, they suggest, to turn them into ‘new village halls’.

They could also become community spaces or cafes, according to a government press release.

Already the idea has been dismissed by Greater Manchester MPs, one of whom fumed that 'if this is the Northern Powerhouse, they can keep it'.

However, ministers insist the move represents a significant step forward.

“The Pacers have been the workhorses of the North’s rail network, connecting communities for more than thirty years, but it is clear that they have outstayed their welcome,” said transport minister Andrew Jones, adding that they are now finally ‘being phased out completely’ to make way for new ‘or fully refurbished’ trains.

(Image: Victoria Crossley)

“Through this competition we can ensure that the Pacer can be transformed to serve a community near where it carried passengers in an entirely different way.

“What we need now are creative and exciting proposals from the public, alongside ideas from businesses keen to support this competition, as we say goodbye to Pacers on our railway.”

The competition could see Pacers ‘transformed into community spaces, cafes or new villages halls’, according to the DfT.

It comes exactly a year after the northern rail meltdown kicked off in May 2018 following timetable changes.

A system already unable to cope spiralled into hundreds of cancellations - but while cancellations have since fallen, passengers continue to face delays and severe overcrowding.

Nearly 1,000 ‘short formed’ Northern Rail trains - trains with carriages removed - came in and out of Manchester last month, according to the latest figures, a number that has gradually grown since last May and regularly sees passengers stranded on platforms, unable to board.

Northern Rail said it was embarking on a major programme of investment, introducing the first of 101 new trains - worth £500m - from this summer, in the start of its plans to replace Pacers.

(Image: Daily Mirror)

Meanwhile £13bn in government infrastructure investment will, according to northern powerhouse minister Jake Berry, make the north ‘one of the best connected regions in the UK’.

“Replacing Pacers with a brand new fleet of trains is not just great news for passengers, it now provides this exciting opportunity for our grassroots community groups across the north to bring people together through this competition,” he added.

“I travelled to school on a Pacer train and I look forward to getting on board again to see how these old carriages will continue to provide a valuable service for many years to come.”

Stalybridge and Hyde MP Jonathan Reynolds responded with bemusement, however.

"I am not sure my constituents will agree that this is an ‘exciting opportunity’, unless one of them is turned into a museum dedicated to highlighting years of under-investment in Northern transport," he said.

"My personal suggestion would be to invite my fed up constituents to dismantle them piece by piece, a bit like when the Berlin Wall came down."

Wigan MP Lisa Nandy, whose constituency is one of the worst-affected in the region by poor rail services, also gave the plan short shrift.

“We were promised huge rail investment, more powers and a game-changing boost to the North," she said.

“Instead we got rail chaos, massive cuts and some old, leaking trains to have local meetings in.

“If this is the Northern Powerhouse they can keep it.”