RAIL passengers will have to put up with a second day of widespread cancellations due to the hot weather.

Greater Anglia cancelled dozens of peak-time services yesterday after it was forced to limit the speed of trains as temperatures went beyond 30C.

And the operator has announced the same restrictions will be put in place this afternoon, leading to further disruption and misery for thousands of commuters.

Speed restrictions were put in place at 1pm and will apply throughout the evening rush hour.

As of 1.45pm, the following services have been cancelled:

  • 1552 Ipswich to Liverpool Street
  • 1558 Ingatestone to Colchester
  • 1617 Liverpool Street to Witham
  • 1624 Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria
  • 1630 Southend Victoria to Liverpool Street
  • 1653 Colchester to Liverpool Street
  • 1712 Liverpool Street to Witham
  • 1732 Liverpool Street to Clacton starts from Colchester at 18.30
  • 1735 Southend Victoria to Liverpool Street
  • 1745 Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria
  • 1805 Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria
  • 1816 Witham to Liverpool Street
  • 1818 Liverpool Street to Ipswich
  • 1845 Liverpool Street to Southend Victoria
  • 1918 Liverpool Street to Clacton starts from Colchester at 20.17
  • 1952 Ipswich to Liverpool Street

The following services will make extra stops:

  • 15:38 Liverpool Street to Colchester Town stops additionally at Ingatestone (16:07) and Hatfield Peverel (16:18)
  • 16:32 Liverpool Street to Ipswich stops additionally at Ingatestone (16:59)
  • 18:12 Colchester to Liverpool Street stops additionally at Ingatestone (18:46) 
  • 18:48 Liverpool Street to Clacton stops additionally at Marks Tey (19:37) 
  • 17:09 Liverpool Street to Clacton stops additionally at ingatestone (17:36) 
  • 17:20 Liverpool Street to Braintree stops additionally at Hatfield Peverel (18:03) 
  • 17:38 Liverpool Street to Ipswich stops additionally at Hatfield Peverel (18:18) and Marks Tey (18:30) 
  • 19:32 Liverpool Street to Harwich International stop additionally at Ingatestone (19:59) 
  • 20:05 Clacton to Liverpool Street stops additionally at Marks Tey (20:38), Kelvedon (20:43) and Hatfield Peverel

For more information about the disruption and which services are affected, visit http://www.journeycheck.com/greateranglia/

Advance purchase tickets holders will be allowed to travel on earlier or later trains if their booked service is cancelled.

Speed restrictions are introduced in hot weather due to the risk of rails buckling.

A Network Rail spokesman said: "On warm days, rails in direct sunshine can be as much as 20 degrees centigrade above air temperature. As rails are made out of steel, they expand as they heat up and are subject to strong compression. This expansion has to be managed to reduce the risk of track buckling.

"If the track does buckle, the line must be closed and the track repaired before services can resume, causing considerable disruption. Usually, these repairs can't be done until the temperature of the rails has dropped.

"If a section of track is judged to be at risk, we introduce local speed restrictions - slower trains exert lower forces on the track and reduce the chance of buckling."