A HERO schoolboy rescued a vision-impaired woman and her guide dog from railway tracks in the face of an oncoming train.

The woman had fallen on to the tracks at Ringwood East station just after 5pm on Tuesday when 16-year-old Harry Dettmann rushed to her aid.

Braving the threat of a train he initially thought was on the same track, he first rescued the guide dog at the woman’s insistence before he and another bystander pulled her to safety too.

Harry, a Year 11 student at Tintern, was with a group of other students and about to catch a train to Ringwood following a late class when he saw the woman and her dog topple on to the tracks on the outbound platform.

Putting his own safety at potential risk, he sprung into action on hearing the train approach despite fears it was headed straight for the woman.

“It was really, really close - you could see it and everything,’’ Harry said.

“My thought was just to get straight on to the track and get her up as quickly as possible.

“I couldn’t sit there and just watch something like that happen. I had to act.”

The schoolboy, who has earned widespread praise for his actions - which were this morning aired on 3AW - said he didn’t think twice before going to the woman and dog’s aid.

He and other students stayed with the woman, who along with the young labrador is believed to have escaped the drop relatively unscathed, until her train arrived.

“She was saying: ‘Get the dog up, get the dog up’,’’ Harry said.

“When the train is coming you can’t really tell what side of the track it’s on.

“We just assumed it was coming down her way.

“As quickly as it happened it was over.

“She was just extremely thankful and she was saying she was going to put in a word at the school.”

Tintern Schools acting principal Jason McManus said staff couldn’t be more proud of Harry and three other students who stepped in to help the woman after the incident.

“These students acted with courage without thinking of themselves or any danger,’’ he said.

“They acted with an innate sense of responsibility. We are extremely proud of them and they have shown what great citizens they are becoming.”

wes.hosking@news.com.au