Truck crashes into Melbourne bridge causing traffic chaos and electricity outages

A truck has struck a bridge on a major road in Melbourne's west, causing traffic and tram chaos, and striking out electricity in the area.

The truck was filmed smashing into a rail bridge on Mount Alexander Road at Essendon around 11.30am today.

It earlier caused major delays on the Craigieburn train line, and is continuing to affect motorists and tram users in the area after it brought down a number of tram wires.

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Dramatic dashcam footage showed the truck smashing into the bridge, bringing down debris and causing cars to pull over.

The vision also showed tram lines strewn all over the road.

Mount Alexander Road has been closed to motorists on the outbound lanes, causing major delays.

The collision has shut down the 59 tram route, which has been stopped between the Moonee Ponds junction and Keilor Road.

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The smash also caused around 180 customers to lose power in the area.

The Victorian Department of Transport said it could take hours to fix the tram wires, with around 100 metres of tram lines affected.

Emergency services are diverting northbound traffic between Buckley Street and Shamrock Street.