Heatwave: Greater Anglia trains suspended until further notice

Greater Anglia has suspended all trains between London and Cambridge through Bishop's Stortford because of the extreme heat and is advising passengers not to travel.

The company says: "Due to multiple issues on the West Anglia route, we are now suspending all services until further notice. Network Rail engineers are dealing with the different faults.

"Due to heat speed-related issues, train faults and overhead wire faults, we are unable to run our services. The impact of delays were worsening.

"Services from Liverpool Street to Hertford East, Cambridge and Stansted Airport and stations in between are all affected.

"Greater Anglia and Network Rail are sorry if your journey has been affected by this disruption."

Fewer than half of its trains were running today anyway and passengers faced "significantly longer" journey times as the operator hoped to prevent tracks from being damaged on what is the hottest UK July day on record, at 37.7C (99.86F).

Network Rail warned that track temperatures could reach an unprecedented 55C (131F) and asked passenger train companies across the Anglia rail network, including Greater Anglia, to reduce maximum train speeds to 60mph, which meant the usual timetable was unable to operate.

A spokesperson for Greater Anglia explained: "In hot weather, tracks become more susceptible to buckling, which would mean that no trains at all are able to run on the damaged section. Trains put pressure on the track as it runs over it, but that pressure is reduced if the train runs at a lower speed."

Martin Moran, GA's commercial and customer service director, said: “It’s impossible to run our usual services if trains have to go at such a reduced speed, so we're asking people not to travel unless absolutely necessary.”