Truck splits above railway in Melbourne's west

A truck has split and narrowly avoided falling onto a metropolitan railway, causing rail chaos in Melbourne and regional Victoria.

Emergency services were called to McNab Avenue in Footscray around 3.40am today after reports the truck, which was carrying grain, had jackknifed.

Grain from the truck spilled onto the railway lines below halting regional and freight trains, and affecting travellers from Melbourne to Albury and Sydney.

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Photographs of the scene showed the truck carriages split, with the back carriage smashing a barrier and hanging over the rail line.

The jackknife caused the front carriage of the truck to lift off the road, while the driver's carriage remained planted on the road.

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Emergency crews were working for several hours to remove the truck and retrieve the grain from the tracks.

The incident halted ARTC freight trains between Tottenham and Dynon on the network, and also affected V/Line's Albury Line and the NSW TrainLink XPT between Melbourne and Sydney.

A spokesperson from the Australian Rail Track Corporation said train lines were still affected.

"No trains are running between Tottenham and Dynon on the ARTC Network in inner Melbourne as a precaution," they said.

"This has also affected V/Line Albury line and the NSW TrainLink XPT between Melbourne and Sydney and freight services."

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The line will be reopened once the truck has been cleared.

Customers travelling on V/Line or NSW Trainlink services are encouraged to check vline.com.au or transportnsw.info for the latest travel advice.