Fallen Trees Disrupt Greater Anglia Services After Strong Winds
Fallen trees and strong winds disrupted rail services and caused power cuts in parts of eastern England. Greater Anglia cancelled several routes and warned…
For passengers in eastern England, fallen trees cause rail disruption alongside power cuts after strong winds struck the region. Greater Anglia cancelled services and advised people to avoid some train journeys until Sunday, while Network Rail teams responded to a tree blocking a line near Stansted Mountfitchet.
The cancellations affect routes between Manningtree and Harwich Town, Manningtree and Ipswich, and Bishop’s Stortford and Stansted Airport. Strong winds on Friday night also left only diesel trains able to run between Ipswich and Colchester, sharply limiting services there.
Passengers face a difficult journey.
Greater Anglia said its Stansted Express services were affected between London Liverpool Street and the airport, as well as on routes linking London Liverpool Street with Cambridge North and Broxbourne with Bishop’s Stortford. Trains on the main line between Norwich and London were running only between Norwich and Ipswich.
The company advised passengers not to travel between Ipswich and Colchester. An “extremely limited shuttle service” was due to operate on that stretch, according to Greater Anglia.
Fallen trees cause rail disruption across key routes
The disruption also left electricity customers without power. About 2,500 properties around Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk lost electricity after a fault on a high-voltage line. UK Power Networks said most had been reconnected overnight.
Network Rail response teams went to the line near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, after a tree fell onto the tracks on Friday afternoon. The disruption comes as strong winds affected rail services and power infrastructure across the region, though the source did not provide a broader assessment of the damage.
The consequences were felt by passengers trying to get home. A supporter posting on X said station doors were locked and people were left “to fend for ourselves”. He also said: “Not one member of staff appeared to try and help people with alternative routes,” according to the BBC report, which said Greater Anglia had been approached for comment.
BBC Look East reporter Alex Dunlop said his daughter called at about 22:30 on Friday from Colchester station, where she was stuck on a train “going nowhere”. She had been told they could be stuck “for hours”. Dunlop drove from Norwich to collect her and arrived at about 00:30, describing the scene as “pretty chaotic”.
“There were so many taxis at Colchester station, clearly people desperate trying to figure out how to get home,” he said.
Power lines and roads also hit
The disruption extended beyond railways. In Pitsea, near Basildon, a man had to be freed from his car after a large tree fell on it in Burnt Mills Road. Firefighters were called at about 16:47 BST on Friday, and the man was left in the care of the ambulance service.
Essex crews spent about 90 minutes clearing a tree from The Causeway between Writtle and Edney Common, near Chelmsford, after being called at 16:49 BST on Friday. A large branch across Panfield Lane in Braintree had been removed by 18:05.
Another tree fell onto power lines in Pound Lane, Ugley, near Stansted Airport, shortly after 17:30 and crews left at 18:19. In Covington, Cambridgeshire, villagers helped move a fallen tree off Keyston Road.
Photos shared on Facebook also showed a vehicle beneath a large fallen tree in Hobleythick Lane, Westcliff-on-Sea. The BBC report said the railway advice to avoid travel applied in parts of the East of England until Sunday.
Source: bbc.co.uk
