This morning’s chaos on the train line between Liverpool Street and Shenfield was caused by a bird, it has emerged.

According to operator Abellio Greater Anglia, a crow on power cables shut off the supply to trains shortly after 10am.

It caused cancellations and delays for more than an hour on the busy route, preventing trains from stopping at several stations.

A statement from Abellio Greater Anglia said: “The problem was caused by a bird (a crow) obstructing the overhead line equipment near Ilford carriage depot, causing the power to switch off.”

They did not elaborate on what the crow did to cause the outage.

Trains were not stopping at Seven Kings, Goodmayes, Chadwell Heath and other stations but all lines reopened at 11.05am.

Delays and cancellations are still possible.