A train from Sydney to Melbourne derailed on Thursday, killing two people on board and injuring several more of the about 160 passengers, the authorities said.

Ambulance and police services were called to Wallan, a rural town 30 miles north of Melbourne, on Thursday evening where five carriages of a long-distance express passenger train had left the tracks.

One person was being taken to Melbourne in a stable condition and 11 people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries, the local state ambulance service said in a statement.

In footage and photos from the scene, train carriages lay on their side off the tracks as passengers looked on. Some said the driver had been injured in the crash.