Commuters 'trapped' in carriages outside Liverpool Street

Passengers caught up in the chaos told today how the drama unfolded.

Hundreds of commuters were trapped in carriages for more than an hour outside Liverpool Street station. They were eventually led to safety by police and rail workers along the tracks to nearby Bethnal Green or back to Liverpool Street.

Alex Charalambous, 20, a sales rep from Chingford, was trapped on a southbound National Express for an hour and a half. He said: "We stopped about 500 metres outside Bethnal Green station and just waited for ages. The driver said something had fallen on the tracks. Eventually the police got on the train and evacuated us onto the tracks.

"We walked up to Bethnal Green. There were babies in buggies and old people. It was really odd - seeing hundreds of people on the tracks."

Clayne Peterson, 31, of Southend, described hearing a "loud bang" and saw water falling on to his train from the bridge.

Andrew Tiffin, 35, was travelling home to Colchester. From the track the bridge damage was clearly visible. He said: "The decking of the steel frame was dropping down on the track. There was quite a lot and stuff was still hanging from the bridge. I do not think anything hit our train - I think it had fallen off before."

Mohammed Ibrahim Alemi, 33, a student, was heading home to Upper Clapton. He said: "I was on the 19.18 to Chingford. We had just left Liverpool Street when we stopped. The driver told us all to move to the first carriage and get off the train. There were so many people it took nearly an hour.

"Because I have had six operations I could not walk down the track, so I waited for the ambulance people to take me. People were angry and frustrated because they wanted to get home." Paul Clements, 34, of Clapton, a writer, was on the same train. He said: "I suppose it's very lucky that no one was hurt."

Thousands of commuters faced more delays today. Richard Kingston, 25, from Witham, had problems getting to his night shift as a trader via Liverpool Street last night and faced the same on his way home this morning. He said: "It is a nightmare. I just want to get back."

Malcolm Walsh, 35, an electrician from Enfield Lock, said: "Already today I'm half an hour late. It added a huge amount of stress to my working day already because I had to work out an alternative route in."

A Liverpool Street station worker said: "We're expecting thousands to pass through the station at rush-hour. So far people seem to have heeded the warnings that the station is shut."