ITV News

UK trains are the oldest since current records began, a probe has revealed. Carriages on Britain's track were typically built in the mid-1990s, according to the Office of Rail and Road. An analysis by the Press Association found that the average age of 21.1 years is older than at any point in publicly available records and 60% older than in 2006. Older trains often result in worse reliability, less comfortable journeys and poorer performance, the ORR has previously warned. Travellers using the Caledonian Sleeper service between London and Scotland have to put up with Britain's oldest trains at 42 years old. Merseyrail, which runs trains in Merseyside, has the second oldest fleet at 38 years old. Both operators plan to introduce new rolling stock in the coming years. TransPennine Express, which operates in northern England and Scotland, has the newest trains at an average of just nine years old. "We've been promised new trains by several train operators and some are under construction - we now want to see these promises turn into reality," said Stephen Joseph, chief executive of the Campaign for Better Transport. "While some, like the famed Pacers in the North of England, do deserve the scrapyard, others can be refurbished to modern standards and could help deal with overcrowding on parts of the rail network." ORR data shows the average age of rolling stock between January and March each year since 2001. A number of new trains were introduced following the end of British Rail in the mid-1990s but the average age has risen during the past decade.