Commuters endured hours of chaos after a blaze sparked dozens of train cancellations at the height of the rush hour.

All trains to Southend Victoria on the One Great Eastern line were cancelled between 3pm and 5.30pm yesterday, leading to long delays.

Thousands of commuters were told to seek alternative routes home as fire crews braved the threat of exploding gas cylinders during a blaze near Romford station.

Malcolm Jones, 54, from Southend, said: "When I got to Liverpool Street it took me a while to realise what was going on, but there were no trains. I had to go home on the c2c line, which added a long time to my journey.

"Lucky for me I live in Southend, otherwise I would have had to try to get back to somewhere further up the line by bus, which would have taken even longer."

A One Great Eastern spokeswoman said: "Trains were cancelled for a period of time. There were delays after that as the service got back up and running."

Published Wednesday August 25, 2004

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