First bit - the government:
To be fair, any DMUs Northern puts on routes get complaints unless you get a turbostar, 195, 156, 155 or 158 and the even then the last 3 will still probably get complaints as they get even older, especially Northern refurbishments seem to be a new seat cover and livery.
Part of the fault is with the DfT, the cut the massive dmu order becuase of proposed electrification which never happened and they only gave out a 9 year contract which isn't long enough for companies to see a return on investment to justify the investment Northern needs.
Second bit - really old stock:
When all the pacers are gone and the service is still atrocious maybe people will realise the pacers were just a vote gaining scapegoat for politicians.
Pacers are an issue, but so are the sprinters, the 150s and 153s need to be replaced and the 155s, 156s and 158s should be comming up for replacement. The youngest, the 158, will be 30 years old this time next year and the 155 and 156 have hit the 30 year mark.
Emus also need investment as the only ones which aren't getting too old are the 333s, the rest are a couple years younger than the youngest dmus apart from the 319s which I don't understand how the government didn't think they are far too old.
In concultion the pacer's aren't just northern's fault but also the government, should the government also give compensation?