Commuters were plunged into travel chaos last night with hours of train delays and more than a dozen cancellations following signalling problems and a fatality on the London to Norwich line.

A person died at Witham station after being hit by a train – and signalling problems at Liverpool Street led to severe delays to passengers travelling home to the region during rush hour.

Train operator Greater Anglia reported the death at Witham at 5.45pm. The line was closed by police for about 45 minutes before reopening.

A Greater Anglia spokesman also confirmed that Liverpool Street station experienced signalling problems from 5pm, causing a limited service through the Shenfield area.

The spokesman added that Network Rail was investigating the problem, which had caused 'hours of delays' at three of the main Liverpool Street platforms servicing the region.

He said: 'There have been severe delays lasting more than an hour in some cases, but we are now catching up with our services.

He added: 'It is no consolation for people travelling home and we apologise for this.'

Normal service had still not resumed late into the evening.