Sydney to Melbourne express train derails in Australia leaving two dead

Two people have died after an express passenger train carrying 160 people from Sydney to Melbourne derailed.

There are reports the driver is also trapped.

Ambulance Victoria said one person was being airlifted to Melbourne and police confirmed two people had died at the scene.

Emergency services were called at about 7.45pm local time (8.45am GMT) on Thursday after the train derailed at Wallan, about 45km (28 miles) from the Victoria state capital Melbourne.

Footage and photos from the scene show the tracks buckled and two carriages jack-knifed with others on their sides several metres from the main line.

Intial reports suggested five carriages had veered off the tracks.

Dr Scott Rickard, one of the passengers on the train, tweeted pictures of the aftermath and said she was mostly worried for the injured driver.

“We just suddenly slid into a fast stop, carriage at an angle stuff flying everywhere. Tray tables went flying,” she told the Australian newspaper.

She told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation she was stuck on the train for about 10 minutes after it derailed.

"There were people lying all over the place and we had to kind of make sure people weren't injured," she said.

She said people in her carriage only appeared to suffer minor injuries.

"Most of the carriage was fine — there were a lot of older people on the carriage so that was really reassuring to see that they've come out fine."

"It was maybe about 10 minutes before we got off but that was because we were just being very careful and making sure everybody was safe."

The Age newspaper reported that it was unclear how the train derailed by its operator Vline warned earlier on Thursday that the service was delayed by up to an hour because of an ongoing rail equipment fault near Wallan.

The train was said to be gaining speed after being stopped due to a signalling issue.

Passenger Rob Jennings told The Age people were tossed around the carriage before the train came to a hault.