TRAIN services have been delayed following a derailment of a freight train.Services between Ipswich and London and Ipswich and Peterborough have been affected after the train was derailed in Ely in Cambridgeshire.

TRAIN services in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire were thrown into chaos today after a derailment early this morning.

A rail line was closed today a freight train derailment led to two carriages overhanging a bridge.

No one was hurt when the EWS freight train came off the track near Ely station in Cambridgeshire at around 2am today.

But 11 of the train's 37 carriages went on their sides, with two overhanging a bridge over the River Ouse.

The bridge was damaged and the line - mainly used by freight trains - was closed, affecting services between London's Liverpool Street station and Peterborough via Ipswich run by the one train company.

Travellers heading from Ipswich to Peterborough have been forced to travel on replacement bus services between Bury St Edmunds and Ely.

A spokesman for one today said he recommended people travelling from Ipswich took a train to Cambridge station and then another to Peterborough.

Services from Bury St Edmunds and Ipswich into London are unaffected.

The spokesman said: “It could be two weeks before the direct route between Bury St Edmunds and Peterborough is restored. There will be bus services throughout that time, or people could continue to use the route to Cambridge and then catch a connecting train to Peterborough.”

The train involved was yesterday's 9.19pm service from Mountsorrel in Leicestershire to Chelmsford in Essex. The train was carrying aggregates.

Officials from the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) were investigating at the scene.

British Transport Police were liaising with the RAIB but were not investigating the incident.

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