A woman has been killed after she was hit by a train at Richmond station.

The incident happened at just after 4pm today and police said they were not treating it as suspicious.

It is expected to cause huge delays for commuters heading home this evening after affecting all mainline and suburban services.

A passenger who was on the Waterloo to Reading train that hit the woman said it suddenly ground to a halt halfway in the station.

The man, who asked not to be named, said everyone onboard had to wait for about 20 minutes before they were escorted out the front carriage.

He said: “We just stopped outside of Richmond and didn’t know what had happened.

“The next thing we heard was the guard’s voice over the intercom. We could tell he was worried by the tone of his voice, but we did not know why at the time.”

A spokesman for Network Rail said: “Just after 4pm we had reports of a person being hit by a train at Richmond station.

"There will be delays until we get the line cleared and we are given the all clear for trains to run.

“We are working with South West Trains to get trains moving as soon as possible. There are certainly no services via Twickenham, but there are alternative routes. There will be delays into the evening.”

A spokesman for South West Trains said: “Services through Richmond are currently being disrupted as a result of a person having been hit by a train. Our immediate thoughts are for the family of the person involved.

"The train involved in the incident was the 3.50pm South West Trains service from Waterloo to Reading. We are sorry for the disruption that our passengers will face this evening as a result of this incident.

“We are working closely with the emergency services and Network Rail to start running services again as quickly as possible, however we do disruption to our services throughout the evening."

For information, call National Rail enquiries on 0845 7484950.