Services are being restored on Friday morning on the East Coast Main Line after a section of overhead was damaged by a train pantograph near Peterborough on Thursday night.

When a pantograph becomes tangled in the wires, a substantial section can be dragged down before the train can be stopped.

All lines were blocked as a result of the incident, and Network Rail engineers worked through the night to repair the damage.

Although the equipment had been repaired there were warnings of possible disruption to early services on Friday, because some trains and their crews could not return to their home depots and ended up in the wrong places from which to start.

East Coast route director Paul Rutter said: ‘We’re sorry for the disruption that passengers have faced due to Thursday’s dewirement. Our teams have worked tirelessly since the incident to allow for trains to operate safely again.

‘There will be some residual delays while the railway gets back to normal, so we are asking people to check before they travel.’

Meanwhile, no down trains are calling at Market Harborough on the Midland Main Line, after a section of land which was already being watched started to move, distorting the track.

Network Rail said monitoring had revealed that the land ‘now needs more intrusive work to stabilise it’. Engineers have started remedial work which will include installing soil nails to reinforce the land.

Trains travelling north between Kettering and Leicester are being diverted through Corby to allow specialist earthwork teams unrestricted access to the site at Braybrooke.

Rail replacement buses are running from Market Harborough as far as Leicester, for passengers travelling north. Although southbound trains are continuing to call at Market Harborough, some are being delayed or cancelled.