Passengers onboard a commuter train had to be rescued this morning after it hit a fallen tree on the track.

Rail services between Hastings and Tunbridge Wells were suspended after the 7.50am Hastings to Charing Cross service came to an abrupt stop at Battle.

Engineers first hoped to move the stranded train to Robertsbridge but the damage was worse than thought.

A rescue train was sent to pull up alongside the carriages and a temporary metal gantry was installed between the carriages so passengers could be evacuated.

Southeastern spokesman Paul Prentice said: "We’re sorry to our passengers whose journeys were delayed this morning when a train struck a tree that had fallen on to the railway near Battle causing damage to the electrical equipment that the train needs to draw power to move.

"No-one was injured and we were able to safely and efficiently transfer people to a replacement train that was able to draw up alongside so that people could continue their journeys.”

He added: "We ask that passengers on the affected train please get in touch with our customer services team.”

The rescue train took passengers to Hastings where they could get off.

Railways staff were also checking the track and starting to remove the tree.

Replacement buses were ordered to ferry passengers between Hastings and Tunbridge Wells and Stagecoach is accepting train tickets.

Because of the delays, the high speed HS1 service was accepting normal tickets between Ashford and St Pancras, Southern was accepting Southeastern tickets between Hastings and Ashford and GTR was accepting tickets between St Pancras and London Bridge.

The crash coincided with the news that Southeastern was adding more trains to its timetable today.

Read more: All the latest news from Tunbridge Wells

Read more: All the latest news from Ashford

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