Scores of trains were delayed or cancelled today after a suspected suicide on the main line near Colchester forced massive timetabling changes just after the morning rush hour.
Scores of trains were delayed or cancelled today after a suspected suicide on the main line near Colchester forced massive timetabling changes just after the morning rush hour.
The fatality, at Kelvedon station, forced trains in both directions to a standstill, with a bus service running between Colchester and Witham from 9.15am to 11.15am.
Passengers travelling in each direction were delayed for up to an hour, with services continuing to be affected until early afternoon. The last train to be cancelled was the noon London Liverpool Street/Norwich service.
A British Transport Police spokesman confirmed the fatality was a middle-aged woman, believed to be in her 50s, from the Colchester area.
He said: “The driver of the 8.08am Liverpool Street to Clacton service, which was travelling at 100mph, noticed a woman at the edge of the platform at Kelvedon station. He sounded the horn but the woman was struck and killed. The train stopped a quarter of a mile further on. It is not known whether the woman jumped or fell on to the rails.”
She was taken to Colchester mortuary and police handed back the line to Network Rail at 10.28am.
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