RAIL bosses have pledged that work to fix a mile long area of damage on the Ipswich to Liverpool Street train line will now be finished earlier than planned.

Annie Davidson

RAIL bosses have pledged that work to fix a mile long area of damage on the Ipswich to Liverpool Street train line will now be finished earlier than planned.

Journeys into the capital have been disrupted since last night when services were suspended from 6pm after power lines came crashing down at Ingatestone.

Hundreds of passengers were trapped in the heat for more than three hours on one stranded train while thousands of other commuters had their journeys home severely disrupted.

Network Rail, which is responsible for the track, said today that reduced services would continue into tomorrow as the repair work was carried out.

A spokesman for the company, which operates the train line, said the work was now going to finish earlier than expected.

Originally it had been scheduled to end at 3am on Thursday but that has now been bought forward to 8pm tomorrow.

It was earlier feared that the delays could extend as long as Friday.

Train operator National Express said reduced services were operating for tonight's rush hour, details of which can be found at www.nationalexpresseastanglia.com

Andrew Goodrum, business director, mainline, for National Express East Anglia said: “I should like to apologise to our customers for the delays and disruption that affected mainline services yesterday evening, and for the continued reduced level of service.

“I am grateful for everyone's patience while Network Rail engineers proceed with the repair work.”