A surge in weekend rail passengers has resulted from reduced engineering work in east London, train operators at Fenchurch Street revealed today.

The 27 per cent rise in the past 12 months has led to more passengers on weekend trips to Southend and the Essex coast on c2c trains when services have traditionally been hit by track maintenance, the company reports.

The growth is forecast to continue this month, with no engineering work planned for the rest of August.

The start of the football season is also piling on the numbers, with c2c increasing seating by adding extra carriages to four Sunday services for fans heading to West Ham for the Hammers and to make connections to north London to get to Arsenal.