Rail commuters face further disruption to services until the end of the week after a “major track fault” at Liverpool Street station caused chaos yesterday.

Network Rail is urging Great Eastern Main Line passengers to check before travelling over the next few days as engineers work to fix the fault affecting a specialist piece of track.

A crack was identified on Sunday during an inspection on the approach to the London station and Network Rail says it cannot be repaired and needs to be replaced.

This means trains are unable to access two platforms.

There will be alterations to some Greater Anglia peak services for the rest of this week, up to and including Friday.

Network Rail has apologised to customers and says it is working hard to provide a temporary fix to allow a full service to run.

Steve Hooker, Network Rail’s head of maintenance for Anglia, said: “I understand the inconvenience this issue causes and apologise to everyone affected.

“We are working hard to repair this fault as quickly and safely as possible, so that we can get a full service back up and running.

“I advise that passengers check before they travel as some journeys may be split between two trains and trains will be busier than usual.”

Jay Thompson, Greater Anglia train service delivery director, said: “We’re running as many trains as we can given that two platforms at Liverpool Street are closed.

“We’re also doing our best to make sure customers are aware of any changes to their trains in advance.

“I’d like to reassure customers that the majority of our services across the network are running as normal, but we apologise to customers who have been affected by this track defect.”

The fault affects a specialist piece of track on a curve which allows for trains to cross from one track to another, and a replacement part needs to be manufactured to order.

The following services on the routes from Norwich, Ipswich, Harwich, Clacton, Braintree, Colchester, Chelmsford, Southminster and Southend to London will be affected:

To Liverpool Street AM

5.12 Ipswich to Liverpool Street terminates at Colchester

5.40 Clacton to Liverpool Street terminates at Colchester

6.00 Norwich to Liverpool Street terminates at Colchester

6.00 Ipswich to Liverpool Street terminates at Colchester

6.10 Clacton to Liverpool Street terminates at Shenfield

6.26 Southend Victoria to Liverpool Street has been cancelled

6.47 Colchester Town to Liverpool Street terminates at Colchester

7.05 Norwich to Liverpool Street terminates at Colchester

7.15 Harwich International to Liverpool Street terminates Colchester

7.29 Witham to Liverpool Street terminates at Shenfield

7.26 Braintree to Liverpool Street terminates at Stratford

7.49 Chelmsford to Liverpool Street has been cancelled

7.37 Southminster to Liverpool Street terminates at Stratford

7.58 Harwich International to Liverpool Street terminates at Colchester

8.10 Stowmarket to Liverpool Street terminates at Stratford

8.12 Southend Victoria to Liverpool Street has been cancelled

8.58 Witham to Liverpool Street has been cancelled

From Liverpool Street AM

7.00 Liverpool Street to Norwich has been cancelled

7.36 Liverpool Street to Colchester Town starts at Colchester

7.40 Liverpool Street to Southminster starts at Wickford

7.46 Liverpool Street to Braintree starts at Ingatestone

8.06 Liverpool Street to Ipswich starts at Colchester

8.30 Liverpool Street to Norwich starts at Colchester

9.30 Liverpool Street to Norwich starts at Colchester

9.34 Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria has been cancelled

10.02 Liverpool Street to Ipswich starts at Colchester

10.38 Liverpool Street to Colchester Town starts at Colchester

To Liverpool Street PM

14.30 Southend Victoria to Liverpool Street has been cancelled

14.30 Norwich to Liverpool Street terminates at Stratford

15.00 Norwich to Liverpool Street terminates at Stratford

15.05 Clacton to Liverpool Street terminates at Colchester

15.30 Norwich to Liverpool Street terminates at Stratford

16.00 Braintree to Liverpool Street terminates at Shenfield

16.05 Clacton to Liverpool Street terminates at Colchester

16.52 Ipswich to Liverpool Street terminates at Shenfield

16.53 Colchester to Liverpool Street terminates at Shenfield

17.00 Norwich to Liverpool Street terminates at Colchester

17.05 Clacton to Liverpool Street terminates at Colchester

17.10 Southend Victoria to Liverpool Street has been cancelled

17.35 Southend Victoria to Liverpool Street has been cancelled

From Liverpool Street PM

15.55 Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria starts from Shenfield

16.17 Liverpool Street to Witham starts at Shenfield

16.24 Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria has been cancelled

16.44 Liverpool Street to Clacton starts at Colchester

17.00 Liverpool Street to Norwich starts at Stratford

17.15 Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria has been cancelled

17.30 Liverpool Street to Norwich starts at Stratford

17.40 Liverpool Street to Colchester Town starts at Colchester

17.52 Liverpool Street to Clacton starts at Colchester

18.05 Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria has been cancelled

18:10 Liverpool Street to Norwich starts at Stratford

18.25 Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria has been cancelled

18.32 Liverpool Street to Walton-on-the-Naze starts at Chelmsford

18.45 Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria has been cancelled

18.48 Liverpool Street to Clacton starts at Colchester

19.30 Liverpool Street to Norwich starts at Colchester

Ticket restrictions will be lifted and tickets from Greater Anglia Main Line stations will also be valid on West Anglia services.