Over recent years over-running engineering works have become a familiar problem for travellers on the line to London

January 2, 2008: Tracks into Liverpool Street were due to reopen after a 10-day closure for major work over Christmas, but the engineering work seriously over-ran meaning trains could not run normally for several days. There were also problems in the Midlands and Glasgow – the ORR slapped a record £14million fine on Network Rail.

March 28, 2008: Over-running engineering work caused major delays for travellers at Shenfield.

January 4, 2010: Over-running New Year work at Stratford caused problems for workers returning to the capital for the first day after the festive break.

March 30, 2012: Over-running overhead line work at Stratford meant trains were unable to reach London – sparking fears of how the network might cope during the Olympic Games.

January 14, 2013: Rush-hour trains between Shenfield and London were delayed after engineering on two of the tracks over-ran.

February 17, 2013: Early morning services were delayed after engineering work in the Shenfield area over-ran.

March 5, 2014: Over-running engineering work at Diss delayed InterCity services to the capital.

May 19, 2014: Engineering works over-running at Colchester delay passengers again – on the first weekend of a seven-week programme of work at the Essex station.

August 11, 2014: Engineering work over-runs at Ipswich station. The work was finished almost two hours late, leading to cancellations and delays. Normal service was not resumed until late morning.

August 26, 2014: Another engineering over-run at Ipswich – this time by more than seven hours.