Chaos at Stortford rail station

By James Burton

CHAOTIC scenes unfolded outside Bishop's Stortford railway station yesterday evening (Tuesday July 22) after a signal failure led to the cancellation of all Stansted-bound trains.

A crowd of several hundred commuters gathered in the taxi area off Station Road as they waited for rail replacement buses to take them on their northbound journeys.

The crisis took place during the evening rush hour after railway staff reported a signal failure in Stansted Tunnel at 4.32pm. Services in the direction of the airport were immediately suspended so that Network Rail engineers could take a look at the problem.

Stansted resident Rhoe Parker, who works at Anglian Home Improvements in Stortford's Rye Street, was trying to get home just after 5pm and caught this snapshot of the incident.

The 29-year-old told the Observer: "I've never seen anything like it before. It was quite crazy really - there was so much noise from the crowds."

The railway line was reopened shortly after the fault was fixed at 6.50pm and trains started running about ten minutes later. There were slight further delays throughout the evening and normal service resumed this morning.