RAIL passengers were stranded for hours at York station after trains were stopped in their tracks.

Police in Durham ordered all trains travelling on the busy East Coast Main Line to stop after a woman strayed near the track between Durham and Darlington at about 3.15pm yesterday.

That left commuters in York - and at other stations - stranded for hours as trains were delayed and even cancelled.

GNER spokesman Alan Hyde said trains were delayed during a two-hour period yesterday while police dealt with the incident at Durham. Most were delayed for about an hour, and a few were cancelled. Services were getting back to normal by about 5.30pm.

The woman found near the line was with police yesterday evening.

Mr Hyde said Durham Constabulary had insisted on closing the line although GNER had requested keeping it open with trains moving slowly to lessen inconvenience for passengers.

A spokesman for the force said: "The decision was made that the trains had to remain stopped until we were sure - we've got to think of the safety of our officers as well as the safety of the lady."

Updated: 10:06 Wednesday, September 28, 2005