At least 15 people were injured on Monday when a train crashed into a barrier in the northwest of Sydney, Australia's largest city, and were being treated by emergency services personnel, an ambulance spokesman said.

Television pictures showed the train had run into buffers at the end of the railway line at Richmond, about 65 km (40 miles)northwest of central Sydney. The injured were being carried on stretchers into waiting ambulances.

"It's everything from walking patients with minor injuries to patients that will require hospital transport," Ambulance NSW spokesman Chris Bray said.

He said five people would require hospital treatment and 10 others had suffered less serious injuries, although it was likely those numbers would rise.

Train operator NSW Trains said on Twitter the train had hit a buffer at the end of the line. Television footage showed that it was still upright on the tracks and that its carriages did not appear to be crumpled.

Bray said the apparent accident happened shortly before 10 a.m. local time (2300 GMT Sunday) and that 10 ambulance crews were sent to the scene.