An elderly man who left his car in the path of a commuter train at Unanderra had attempted to beat a closing boom gate and panicked in the minutes leading to impact, authorities say.
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The train was carrying about 50 passengers when it slammed head-on into the abandoned car at a level crossing on the Princes Highway shortly before 7am on Monday.
The crash closed a section of the highway for two hours and forced rail commuters onto buses for three hours as the wreckage was cleared from the line.
The Mercury understands the man’s driver’s licence is likely to be suspended in coming days, however police say no criminal charges will be laid.
The Unanderra 72-year-old and his wife, 69, were travelling south on the highway when the boom gate came down just behind their car.
The highway is straight but the car veered right with the tracks, bringing it towards the oncoming train and to the point where the road surface ends.
‘‘It would appear that the driver’s panicked, accelerated and swerved to try and miss the boom gates,’’ Lake Illawarra duty officer Kylie MacFarlane said.
‘‘He’s turned to the right and become stuck on the tracks, and been unable to reverse the vehicle. They’ve panicked and jumped out of the car.’’
The train pushed the car 30metres along the tracks before coming to a rest across the highway, about 400metres south of the Nolan Street intersection.
NSW Fire and Rescue personnel found the car stuck firmly against the train’s front, with its steering column squashed into the driver’s seat.
Duty commander for Fire and Rescue Illawarra, Inspector John Hawes, said it took about an hour to remove the car from under the train.
‘‘We were under the guidance of Sydney Trains because we didn’t want to incur further damage to the train if it could be avoided,’’ Inspector Hawes said.
After some ‘‘cutting and pushing’’, they were able to use a tow truck to pull the car free.
The train was moved to a rail siding at Unanderra, where Sydney Trains staff could further assess the damage. It has since been transported to the Eveleigh railway yards.
Lake Illawarra Police Acting Inspector Matthew Glasgow said the couple was unhurt and early reports placing them inside the car at the time of impact were incorrect.
‘‘There was extensive damage to the car. If they were inside the car [at impact], they would still be inside now, I’d say,’’ he said, shortly before the rail line reopened about 10am.
NSW Ambulance Illawarra district officer Inspector Terry Morrow said rail passengers and the couple were uninjured.
Police set up diversions to move motorists around the crash site.
The South Coast line was partially closed in both directions between Unanderra and Dapto.
Southbound passengers travelling beyond Unanderra had to change at Wollongong for a bus service.
Four bus services operating in the area were also affected, with five bus stops being missed as the buses were diverted along Nolan Street and Orange Grove Avenue.
