Derailment of 11 of the 33 wagons on a freight train at Queen Adelaide near Ely is likely to mean passenger services between Bury St Edmunds and Peterborough are unlikely to resume until Monday.

Replacement bus services have been put in place for passengers from Ely, March and Whittlesey.

People from Manea hoping to catch the replacement bus have been advised to use the help point to arrange onward transport because of what Greater Anglia describes as “road access issues”.

The accident happened at around 2.30pm on Monday when the 1133 Felixstowe-Doncaster intermodal derailed but remained upright.

The driver was unhurt and there are no reports of any other injuries however the line has been extensively damaged.

Greater Anglia, Cross Country and East Midlands trains are affected. Heavy duty cranes were brought in to begin removing the dislodged wagon.

A team from the Rail Accident Investigation Bureau (RAIB) has been deployed to the freight train derailment to start gathering evidence on site.

Once the wagons are removed teams of engineers will be on site to replace damaged track.

Network Rail confirmed there was “significant damage to the track” and that it would be some days before the repair work is complete.

Customers wishing to travel between Ipswich and Ely can use Greater Anglia services between Ipswich and Cambridge changing at Cambridge for Ely, or via Norwich changing at Norwich for Ely.

Customers travelling between Ipswich and Peterborough and beyond may travel via Liverpool Street; East Midlands trains from St Pancras, Virgin East Coast, Hull Trains, and Great Northern from Kings Cross and Virgin West Coast from Euston.

Greater Anglia and Network Rail may all have been affected by the derailment.

Simon Ancona, Network Rail’s chief operating officer for Anglia, said: “The recovery is very complex and not helped by the rural location and will take several days.

“I understand how frustrating this is for passengers and would like to thank them for their patience while we work to get services up and running again.”

Network Rail is hopeful the line will reopen on Monday but the date is subject to change.

Rail News magazine reported that the derailed train was being hauled by GB Railfreight 66713 Forest City.