Railway bosses have issued an apology to commuters after three weeks straight of severe delays across south east London.

Network Rail have said sorry for the disruption caused to passengers' journeys after three consecutive Mondays with significant delays to services.

Last week saw a freight train derail at low speeds in Lee, a problem which ended up blocking the entire Sidcup line for nearly two full days in a "grim start" to the week.

A number of infrastructure and signalling issues affected services the week prior, and sadly on September 8 a man died on railway tracks near Eltham.

On Tuesday, passengers had to be helped off a train by firefighters after it became stranded in Bickley following a power cable fault.

Network Rail Kent and Sussex said passengers travelling with Southeastern and some Thameslink and Southern trains had "endured a rough start to commuting's big return."

This Is Local London: Network Rail - the Lee derailmentNetwork Rail - the Lee derailment

With three disrupted Mondays in a row on various lines in south east London, Fiona Taylor, Route Managing Director for the region, stepped up to record a message.

She said: "It's my job to make sure trains run on time, and I'm afraid on the past three Mondays I haven't been able to do that.

"I'm sorry for the disruption to your journeys, especially as I know many of you will be going bsck to the office after many months at home.

This Is Local London: Network Rail have issued an apologyNetwork Rail have issued an apology

"Although the incidents that have caused delay are all different, including infrastructure failures, a derailment and passengers on the line, that doesn't help you get to work or make up for the delays."

Ms Taylor continued: "We investigate all major service affected incidents so that we can learn from what's happened and make changes to stop them happening again.

"And whilst I can't guarantee that there won't ever be delays, I can promise you that my team care passionately about our passengers and try really hard to give you a safe, reliable and punctual rail service every day.

"Thank you so much for your patience and again, please accept my apologises for the disruption to your journeys over the past few weeks."