A Canadian woman who launched a tirade of racist abuse at a Filipino couple on a train was told to "get the f*** off" after passengers came to the pair's defence.

The woman, who was travelling on the Vancouver SkyTrain on Monday afternoon, started hurling insults at the couple and said she thought they were speaking too loudly.

The pair, who were speaking Tagalog, apologised to the woman, telling her it was normal for them to speak loudly.

But the woman interrupted, accusing them of making an "excuse" before adding: "Go back to the f****** Philippines."

Horrified train passengers immediately intervened, telling the woman "you're a racist" and "people care that you are here so get off."

The incident was caught on camera by multiple witnesses, including Ashley Klassen, who posted a video of the incident to Facebook.

She called it "probably the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen" and said it was an example of "unfiltered Vancouver racism."

Vancouver's transport police said in a statement: "Once the videos were reviewed by Transit Police, it was determined that the aggressor in this situation had used profane and racially slanted language toward the elderly couple and an investigation was launched.

"The suspect has been identified by Transit Police as a 75-year-old New Westminster woman. She is known to police for documented anger related issues in the past but there is nothing documented that would indicate there is a concern for public safety.