KEY POINTS:
A truck rolled down a bank onto a railway track in front of a moving passenger train this morning.
The train driver managed to stop just metres before the 12-tonne truck in the rush-hour incident.
Inspector Ken Climo, of central police communications, said the truck rolled down a bank off the Korokoro Road overbridge in Petone onto the northbound track at 8.24am.
It landed upside down and was now blocking the railway lane, Mr Climo said.
The driver escaped with minor injuries.
Toll spokeswoman Sue Foley said the truck landed on the railway line, but then bounced clear of it.
She said a commuter service was travelling along the track at the time, but the driver saw the accident unfolding.
He stopped the train about 10m short of the truck.
"We are pleased the driver was very alert and was very aware of what was happening up front," Ms Foley said.
There was no damage to the overhead wires, but Ms Foley was not sure about damage to the track.
She expected trains to continue their service "fairly soon", but there would be delays for all commuters from the Hutt through to the Wairarapa.
- NZPA
