Commuters will have to endure further misery after a rail company announced there will be no trains tonight.

Severe damage to overhead power lines at Hendon Station early this morning led First Capital Connect to cancel all train services on its Thameslink route between Luton and London St Pancras.

Network Rail engineers have managed to remove the damaged wire and introduce a limited East Midlands train service. 

However considerable work is still needed on two of the lines, meaning First Capital Connect services from Borehamwood and Hendon are not expected to resume until tomorrow morning. 

Route Managing Director for Network Rail Phil Verster said: “We are very sorry for the disruption to passengers caused by damage to the overhead power lines today.

“We are doing all we can to restore services as quickly as possible and will issue further information as soon as it is available."

First Capital Connect is operating a limited replacement bus service between Mill Hill Broadway and St Albans and passengers are advised to use Great Northern services from London St Pancras.

First Capital Connect managing director David Statham apologised for the disruption.

He said: “This has been an extremely trying day for our passengers and - while Network Rail has been fixing the problems - we have been doing all we can to help those travelling with us.

“This morning we safely evacuated 1,700 people from five stranded trains and I have been at our stations with other head office staff giving advice for people caught up in this.

“We have ticket acceptance in place with other train operators and local bus services to make sure our passengers get to where they need to be this evening.”

For live updates and information, keep checking www.firstcapitalconnect.co.uk