Rail services between London and Norwich were disrupted for more than eight hours on Friday after lines were blocked by a broken down freight train.
The breakdown, which happened during the late morning between Manningtree and Colchester, meant severe delays for passengers travelling between Liverpool Street, Ipswich and Norwich.
After Network Rail engineers moved the stricken train, the line eventually returned to normal running by about 8.30pm.
Many commuters were delayed by about 90 minutes during rush hour travelling times.
A spokesman for National Express East Anglia (NXEA) said: 'It proved to be a very time-consuming process to retrieve the train, and there was a long period of time when the line was blocked.
'The knock-on effect was quite extensive and it took a long time to return to punctual running. Network Rail worked to recover the train as soon as possible. We apologise to customers for the severe delays and we did everything we could to minimise the effects of this.'
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