The Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, has hit out at the rail industry for providing new trains so slowly.

Manufacturing delays, and problems with safety tests, mean that more than 350 new carriages, worth more than £500m, are not yet in use.

"There's no point train manufacturers producing millions of pounds worth of rolling stock if it's going to sit idly around due to glitches in the system." Mr Prescott told reporters as he visited two train manufacturers in the Midlands.

'Slam doors' to go

The Transport Secretary set up a rolling stock action team last summer to clear the log jam delaying new carriages getting on to the tracks.

Run by the Franchising Director of the Strategic Rail Authority, Mike Grant, the team is focussing on the replacement of old-fashioned "slam door" mark one carriages.

The carriages have been deemed to be far less safe in an accident than more modern stock and the Rail Inspectorate has ruled they must be replaced by 1 January 2005.

In an effort to speed-up what is proving to be a slow process, Mr Grant has announced that he is pushing through the purchase order of 1,500 new carriages himself.

The unusual move is particularly aimed at Connex South Central and South West Trains which run the busy south east England commuter routes.

The SRA regulates franchises and Connex and SWT are among companies currently seeking to renew their contracts.

Mr Grant will act as procurement agent for the new carriages and he will be able to transfer any contracts to whichever company wins a particular rail franchise.

This means that whether the rail companies themselves order the stock or not, the new carriages will be in place by the 2005 deadline.

Mr Grant said the move was a precautionary action in the interests of passengers.

"My objective is to see the remaining slam-door stock removed from the network and superior stock in its place as soon as reasonably practicable." he said.

Promises

Upgrading passenger carriages was a key promise made by the rail operators to John Prescott in 1998.

But it has been a programme beset with delays.

Figures released late last year showed less than a fifth of the promised target of vehicles had made it onto the rails in a 12 month period.

After 1 January 2005, the Rail Inspectorate will not allow any mark one stock to run on Britain's railways.

Slam-door carriages can only remain in use until then if they have been modified.

Carriages which are not modified must be removed from service by January 1, 2003.

Connex South Central, which has more than 600 slam-door carriages, has 120 new carriages on order.

SWT also has around 600 of the mark one stock, with 120 new carriages due to enter service soon.