THERE were delays on c2c train services to London from Thurrock this morning (Tuesday, 1 November), and brief delays to local road traffic, following an incident and subsequent failure of a train at Stanford-le-Hope rail station.

The incident happened just before 8am and concerned the welfare of a woman on the bridge crossing the rail lines at the station. Essex and British Transport Police initially attended and were supported by a crew from the East of England ambulance service. The woman is safe and is in the care of the emergegency services.

As a consequence the live wires above the tracks were temporarily switched off while the incident was dealt with but when they were switched on, after around 15 minutes, the train scheduled to leave at 7.57am would not restart. Also, while the incident was being managed, the station crossing gates were shut, causing considerable local traffic congestion at a busy time when parents were taking children to local schools.

The subsequent 8.24am train was cancelled and there was an impact on other c2c services. Approaching 9am it appeared the train had been restarted and according to c2c trains were back to running at scheduled times or with just minimal delays.

Passengers disembark from the delayed train.