A Melbourne commuter was kicked off a train after reports he verbally abused a woman dressed in a chador on Tuesday morning.

Police boarded a train at North Melbourne just before 9am after complaints the man in his 40s had been verbally abusing passengers travelling on the Upfield rail line.

Although a police spokeswoman could not say whether the insults were religiously or racially motivated, Melbourne radio station Fox FM reported that the man targeted the woman wearing a head covering.

Fellow passengers quickly "shouted down the man" and told him to leave the woman alone, according to the radio station.