HUNDREDS of rail passengers had been evacuated as high winds forced railway operators to close York station this afternoon.

A GNER spokesman said a sheet of corrugated iron had fallen onto an overhead power line at around 2pm.

The incident initially forced the closure of platforms three, five, seven and nine.

Some services continued to run on platforms 10 and 11 for a short while, but then the station was completely closed for safety reasons.

By late afternoon a few diesel powered trains were allowed to move through the station.

Severe delays are expected for all trains for the rest of the day and passengers are being urged to seek alternative transport.

Power supplies have been cut to the electric overhead line as engineers battle to remove the sheeting.

GNER high speed trains, which use the overhead power lines, are being stopped both north and south of the station.

Updated: 16:10 Friday, February 22, 2002