RAIL services between Ipswich and London are running smoothly again after signalling problems which caused havoc this morning were fixed.

RAIL services between Ipswich and London are running smoothly again after signalling problems which caused havoc this morning were fixed.

Trains were delayed by up to 45 minutes following the fault at Bethnal Green.

However, a spokesman for rail operator National Express East Anglia said the problem was resolved shortly before 9am.

Full services were restored soon after.

The delays come the morning after an evening of chaos on the London mainline.

Passengers from across Suffolk and Essex faced massive disruption yesterday - with some journeys taking more than twice as long as usual.

Trains were cancelled and others suffered huge delays from 1.30pm when vandals cut a signalling cable near to Bakers Lane in Colchester.

Today, passengers boarded three carriage trains at Ipswich station and were forced to make alterations to their journeys into London.

Andy Hutchinson, from Elmswell, was on his way to see his daughter's nativity play in Brentwood. He said: “It's always the way on this line and the problems always seem to be down to signalling errors.

“They need to rip all this down and start again.”

Commuter Keith McTucky added: “Three carriages are not enough, especially when we're shelling out £60 a time and having to sit on your briefcase.”

A National Express East Anglia spokesman today said: “Passengers boarding trains at Ipswich were not as badly affected as those on Metro services in Romford and Shenfield.

“We sent out a precautionary message to passengers that there were signalling problems.

“The problems last night were completely out of our control but we had extra staff on hand at stations.”

Yesterday some passengers were stuck on trains for more than three hours while engineers from Network Rail repaired the damage.

National Express East Anglia was forced to run a limited service between Liverpool Street and Norwich - with three trains an hour leaving in each direction between 5pm and 7pm.

British Transport Police (BTP) were called to Bakers Lane in Colchester at 2.20pm. Officers conducted an examination of the scene and enquiries are ongoing. Anyone with information about the vandalism is asked to call BTP on 0800 405040.

Were you caught up in the chaos? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk