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Rail commuters heading into and out of Bristol faced long delays early this morning because major engineering works in South Gloucestershire over the weekend were not completed on time. A total of 51 trains were delayed and 20 cancelled after Network Rail failed to reopen the line between Bristol Temple Meads and Parkway Station.
The line had been closed on Saturday night to allow stretches of the track to be replaced as part of a major repair scheme.
Network Rail spokeswoman Kirsty Anderson said the work should have been completed early this morning.
"But we did not get the up line back until 7.45am and the down line at 8.15am. It had a major impact on early morning services, with many running late and some cancellations. We hope to have all services back to normal by lunchtime. We can only apologise to all of our customers."
Passenger Kate Edser was travelling into Bristol Temple Meads from Yate when the Wessex Train service came to a sudden halt outside of Bristol Parkway.
She said: "I caught the train at 6.59am but we were given no warning at the station of any delays or disruption to services. We were stopped for at least half-an-hour outside of Parkway Station and there was an announcement, but they could not say how long the delay would be.
"Eventually we got going but the train was at least an hour late when it arrived at Temple Meads."
A Wessex Trains spokesman apologised for the disruption caused to services.