Thankfully the pacers are gone now. Only a couple of years ago mind.When I lived up North in the early 90s I was amazed at how much better their trains were than ours particular the slam door cattle trucks on the Hastings to London line.
There was of course the exception, those bus on wheels which were a bit of exception.
Travelling up there in more recent years I was amazed to see them still in service.
I don't think there's a great difference between local trains in the North and the South. The big difference is between anything into, out of, and around London compared to everything else in the country.