Network Fail - UPDATED

SEETHING commuters have battled through one of the worst weeks ever on our railways, with more delays expected today.

Each day 20,000 passengers use Chelmsford station and a further 6,500 board trains at Witham but once again they have been forced to endure horrendously long waits for trains after more than a mile of Network Rail's overhead cables were torn down.

Trains to and from London ground to a halt Monday when the 5.20pm service from Liverpool Street became entangled in cabling near Ingatestone.

A restricted service was up and running by Tuesday but it was unable to cope with the demand and thousands were forced to catch rail replacement buses.

Others spent hours stuck in stifling carriages as urgent repairs were carried out and platforms up and down the line were packed solid as commuters jostled for a space on the trains that were running.

Hopeful commuters arrived at stations throughout Essex Thursday morning to discover yet more delays.

Repairs to the overhead power cables were completed Wednesday night but shorter trains than usual are running along the line from Liverpool Street out to Shenfield, Chelmsford and beyond.

Passengers are being told to expect delays of up to an hour.

Mark Leslie, coordinator of the Essex Federation of Rail Users, said: “It has been fairly horrendous since Monday evening.

“National Express got buses on quite quickly and they have been running a limited train service but there is a lot of overcrowding in the mornings.

“The trains are jam-packed and journeys are very unpleasant.”