By IAN ROBSON RAIL passengers in the region faced chaos yesterday after thieves stole vital metal cables. A section of cabling was taken from the East coast main line to London. Passengers were delayed for an hour as engineers repaired the line.

Thieves stole signaling cables that control one of England's busiest rail routes, causing delays Saturday morning, officials said. The delays affected services in and out of London's Kings Cross on the East Coast Main Line, The Times of London reported.

NO trains were running on the East Coast main line between York and Darlington yesterday after an overhead electric fault north of Thirsk. The incident damaged all four overhead cables - blocking the line - shortly after 10am. Buses were brought in to replace trains between York and Darlington.

TRAIN services to and from the North East are expected to remain suspended until early this morning after an overhead power line failure.

Passengers faced fresh rail chaos today after an overhead power problem disrupted services between York and Darlington. No trains were running on that stretch of the East Coast Main Line after damage to all four overhead cables shortly after 10am.