RAIL passengers will benefit from faster, longer trains due to be introduced between Manchester and Scotland at the end of 2013, the Department for Transport said.

First TransPennine Express, which operates passenger services on the route, has ordered 10, four-car electric trains which will be used following electrification of the line between Manchester and the West Coast Main Line.

The order is part of an £82 million investment by the DfT, of which half has gone to FTPE and half to London Midland.

TransPennine Express' 40 new carriages will be used on services from Manchester Airport to Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Rail Minister Theresa Villiers yesterday said: "Increasing capacity on some of the busiest routes in the country is a key part of the major programme of rail capacity expansion we have promised to deliver. It is a vital way of responding to passenger concerns about crowding and proving an important stimulus to economic growth."