COMMUTERS are facing cancellations and delays while engineers work flat out to clear a landslide which partially derailed an Inter-city express shortly after it left Swindon Tuesday night.

The eight carriage First Great Western train which left Swindon for Cardiff at 5.30pm smashed into a tree and other debris at the mouth of the Patchway tunnel near Bristol.

No-one was hurt but the 200 passengers were left stranded for more than two hours.

Railtrack said the accident could result in up to 50 per cent of services being cancelled Wednesday morning (July 5).

The front wheels of the power car were derailed but the driver managed to bring the train to a halt in the short tunnel with all eight carriages still upright.

The landslide was caused by torrential rain and FGW cancelled three of today's morning rush-hour trains on the line which is the main route from Paddington to South Wales.

A FGW spokeswoman said: There will be one line open and some lines will have to be closed because of the work going on in the tunnel.

Trains will be running in both directions but only on a single line.

She said trains were being diverted through Gloucester and passengers were warned to expect 45 minutes to be added to their journey times.

An investigation was immediately launched in to the cause of the crash.