Severe train delays today between north and mid-Essex destinations and London have been blamed on the collapse of Railtrack.

Commuters were advised to abandon all plans for rail travel this morning as services from Colchester and Chelmsford to Liverpool Street ground to a halt.

The A12 was hit by delays as frustrated rail users abandoned the stations and took to their cars in a bid to get to work.

Services into the capital and inner-city lines were cancelled or delayed after a signal failure between Gidea Park and Chadwell Heath.

Commuters were left stranded at stations all along the line, some waiting for more than two hours.

"We would ask people still waiting to find alternative transport and not to travel by train at the moment," said a First Great Eastern spokeswoman.

She added all trains had been affected, and were running an average of 88 minutes late.

More in today's Evening Gazette

First Great Eastern website: www.ger.co.uk

Published Monday, March 25, 2002