Thousands of rail passengers have endured travel chaos after a major station had to be closed following a bridge accident.

Debris fell on to railway tracks in the accident on Wednesday night, leading to the closure of Liverpool Street station in London.

A National Express East Anglia train hit the debris but no one was hurt.

Liverpool Street station remained closed during this morning's rush-hour, meaning that National Express East Anglia trains had to start and finish short of central London.

This affected passengers using Stansted Express services to Stansted airport in Essex as well as passengers travelling to and from parts of Essex, Cambridge, Norwich and Ipswich.

The affected bridge - GE19 - is just outside Liverpool Street station and was being worked on by engineering companies Balfour Beatty and Carillion on behalf of Transport for London (TfL).

Part of the new East London line which will open in 2010, the bridge had been constructed about a month ago and work was being carried out last night to move it into its final position.

A TfL spokesman said: "The contractors were jacking up the bridge. The jack collapsed and debris from the supports for the bridge fell on to the tracks. We are investigating the incident."

Network Rail was hoping full service from Liverpool Station would be possible around 2pm Thursday.

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