After weeks of emergency engineering work to repair damage as a result of the heatwave, services on the Southminster line are due to return to normal from the 31st October.

Network Rail has been working on the repairs since late August after the ground under the trackbed shrunk.

While the work has been carried out, Greater Anglia has been running a reduced timetable due to speed restrictions to avoid cracking or buckling the rail.

The work was hoped to be completed relatively quick but was more complicated that first thought, so a temporary timetable was introduced earlier in October.

The work on the 16 miles of track is almost complete with the last section being completed on the 23rd, where buses will replace trains all day.

Jamie Burles, Greater Anglia managing director, said: “We are very sorry for all the disruption and inconvenience our customers have experienced since the problem with the track was discovered in late summer and we’d also like to thank customers for their patience during this time.

“It was essential to carry out this work to prevent much more prolonged disruption. We have worked together with Network Rail to try and fix the problem as quickly as possible and minimise the disruption for passengers as far as was possible.”

Ellie Burrows, Network Rail’s route director for Anglia, said: “We’ve worked as quickly as possible to realign the track on the Southminster branch line in order to reinstate the usual timetable and minimise the disruption for passengers. I want to thank passengers for their patience while we carried out these emergency works.”