Engineers were working through the night to ensure rail journeys are not disrupted for passengers on Monday morning after a fire caused major problems in the Ilford area.

Around half of the trains that were due to run between Norwich and London Liverpool Street were cancelled and others faced delays on Sunday night as a result of an electrical blaze in a signalling box.

Network Rail said the damage was fixed by around 7.30pm and the signalling system would be tested once the railway closes for the night.

Rachel Groves, a spokeswoman for the state-owned company, said: “We are expecting all lines to be back open in the morning.

“Around half of the box was damaged and we have repaired and replaced the relevant components to get signalling up and running.

“We have got some testing to do once the railway closes for the night to check the new signalling is working as it should with the expectation of normal service in the morning.”

This came after an initial warning from Abellio Greater Anglia that the work may not be complete, in which case the company would run a “very restricted service” from the region to London.

Through trains from Ipswich and Norwich were planned to stop at Colchester from where a shuttle service would operate to London.

Ipswich MP Ben Gummer is one of those who is planning to make the journey on Monday.

He said: “Of course things like this happen. But passengers would be a lot more understanding if this kind of thing did not happen on top of many other delays over the months and years.

“If there are problems on Monday I expect a lot of people will be very, very angry – and rightly so.”

It is not yet known how the fire started.