A broken rail line caused commuter chaos this afternoon.

The damage, which was discovered at Gravesend station, left all lines at the destination blocked earlier today.

It was cleared at around 3.30pm.

There were also delays and issues at Dartford and Medway stations as a result.

At the time a Southeastern spokesman said: “We have been advised of a broken rail at Gravesend station, whilst this is investigated all trains in the area are at a stand.

“Engineers from Network Rail are on site and expecting to reopen the line but with a speed restriction of 5mph.

“This means that services will potentially be able to run but will pick up delays due to the speed restriction.

“Network Rail will then be able to go in tonight and fix the broken rail.”

As a result of the break, some trains may have had to have been cancelled, delayed by up to 60 minutes or revised.

Disruption was expected until 2pm.

The spokesman continued: “A safety inspection of the track in the Gravesend area means trains are currently unable to call at Gravesend.

“Trains will be diverted, altered or cancelled.”

London Charing Cross to Gravesend trains had to terminate and start at Northfleet.

London Cannon Street to Gravesend services had to terminate and start at Dartford.

Highspeed trains between London St Pancras International and Ramsgate via Gravesend ran between Rochester and Ramsgate only.

If people were affected by the disruption today travellers could use their ticket at no extra cost on the Fastrack bus route B between Ebbsfleet and Dartford, the 190 Arriva bus between Chatham and Gravesend, the London Underground between London Terminals, the Docklands Light Railway via any reasonable route and the Elizabeth line via any reasonable route.

Thameslink services between Dartford and Rainham were also disrupted.

Services which normally run between London Blackfriars and Rainham were terminated at Dartford and started back.

Stations between Dartford and Rainham were not served and commuters will had to use local buses to complete their journey.

The spokesman explained: “You will need to leave at least 60 minutes extra to complete your journey and you may need to use an alternative route.”

For more information on the disruption visit the Southeastern website or Twitter account.