A car went up in flames on the Western Ring Road, causing major peak-hour delays on Thursday night.

The green Volvo caught fire on the Ring Road, between Pascoe Vale Road and Sydney Road, about 5pm on Thursday. The driver managed to pull over in the emergency lane.

The car which caught fire on the Western Ring Road. Credit:Channel 10

Firefighters managed to extinguish the blaze within 10 minutes, but not before it created major delays for evening commuters.

Three right lanes on the Ring Road were initially closed Altona-bound, near the Tullamarine Freeway.

By 6.15pm all lanes had reopened, but traffic had slowed to a crawl from the Hume Freeway, a VicRoads spokeswoman said.

It took another 45 minutes for congestion to ease.

Traffic was flowing smoothly again about 7pm.