Furious commuters travelling from Bradford's two train stations to Kings Cross faced another day of chaos today as storms brought down overhead cables.

Great North Eastern Railways (GNER) advised people not to travel unless it was absolutely necessary and passengers who chose to let the train take the strain found themselves stranded at Peterborough.

No trains could travel south beyond the city and no special transport had been laid on by GNER.

The cables came down on the East Coast Main Line after the country received another severe battering from gale force winds last night, causing major disruption to train services both in and out of Kings Cross station.

Other options for travellers were the Midland mainline services, which were running to St Pancras, or National Express buses, travelling to Victoria Station in London. Only five days ago commuters were locked in another travel nightmare when a points failure at Leeds cancelled rush-hour Bradford-bound services. Only four of the 12 platforms at Leeds City Station were operating after the rest went down.

And that chaos followed months of disruption, expected to continue until as late as Easter, after the Hatfield rail disaster when safety work led to speed restrictions on the network.

A lack of information about train times has forced many people to completely abandon the railways in favour of buses. Business is booming on the bus and coach networks with firms cashing in and Leeds Bradford airport has reported increased passenger traffic.

The latest train chaos came as Prime Minister Tony Blair described travelling by rail at the moment as "absolutely hell". Speaking during a live TV questioning session from Leeds last night, Mr Blair insisted safety should not be compromised and he would be "foolish" to overrule the concerns of the Health and Safety Executive and Railtrack.

The Prime Minister said he had recently travelled by train: "It is absolutely hell travelling on the railways at the moment. There is no doubt about that."

He said if the improvements promised by the end of January were not delivered, ministers would be working with the Strategic Rail Authority to increase pressure for a better service.

e-mail: kim.mcrae

@bradford.newsquest.co.uk