Polish cyclist gets hit by train and survives

A Polish cyclist has slammed into a high speed train and lived to tell the tale.

Dramatic CCTV footage published on Wednesday shows an absent-minded bike rider racing towards a level crossing in Opole in Poland's south and swerving around the boom gate towards the tracks.

Moments later, with the cyclist's front wheel about to hit the tracks, the blur of a speeding blue train comes into shot and races across the screen.

The Pendolino, which can reach speeds over 280km/h, knocks the 26-year-old cyclist off his feet and sends him tumbling through the air like a rag doll.

Had he been riding just a split second earlier he would have undoubtedly been killed.

A motorist waiting at the crossing then rushed to his aid and the man was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

The incident occurred on November 5 but was only published by Poland's national railway company on Wednesday as "a lesson in how not to cross the tracks", Miroslaw Siemieniec, a spokesman for Polskie Koleje Panstwowe, said.

He added that the train was delayed by 40 minutes as a result of the accident and the cyclist was fined $180 ignoring the red light and the boom gate at the crossing.