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A section of track where a train derailed killing two people and injuring 11 had been an accident waiting to happen. 

Daily Mail Australia has been told drivers who frequently travelled alongside the fatal section of track where an interstate train derailed on Thursday was 'as rough as guts'. 

The driver, 54, from the Australian Capital Territory and his female pilot, 49, from Victoria died at the scene after the train from Sydney to Melbourne derailed with 160 passengers on board.  

Authorities remain at the scene of a fatal derailment of an XPT train north of Melbourne

Passenger Finley Arkless (pictured) told how he tried to save the driver but it was too late

The derailment occurred along a stretch of deteriorated track, which V/Line drivers had refused to travel along as it awaited maintenance.

'Conditions were altered and V/Line drivers rightly refused to traverse this section over the past week,' Rail Tram and Bus Union Victorian secretary Luba Grigorovitch said.

The express passenger train (XPT) - which can reach speeds of up to 160km/h - came off the tracks just before 8pm Thursday near the town of Wallan, 50km north of Melbourne.

A driver, who wished to remain anonymous, told Daily Mail Australia the stretch of track was 'notoriously rough' and had been so for months. 

'It was a bloody nightmare,' the driver said. 

Passengers have recalled the horrifying moment of impact where 'everyone was screaming' as they were violently thrown around the carriages.

'There was almost silence and then an awful thud as the world turned upside down,' one woman told The Herald Sun.

'People were yelling in confusion and started gasping like the air had been knocked from their lungs.'

Finley Arkless told how he used a fire extinguisher to smash the driver cabin window in a desperate attempt to free the driver, cutting his hand in the process.

'I ran over to try and smash the window but I couldn't get him out,' he told reporters.

Other passengers said the driver had made an announcement on the PA system minutes prior that they were planning to make up time on the service, which was running two hours behind schedule. 

Two people were killed when a train derailed outside of Wallan. The stretch of rail was feared by Victorian train drivers

The incident came just weeks after another derailment on tracks in Barnawartha, just south of Albury, in northern Victoria. 

That derailment, on January 29, saw a north bound Pacific National freight train lose several wagons and grind to a halt.

Shortly after a V/Line train hauling passengers travelling from Albury to Melbourne on an adjacent track struck a container from a derailed wagon from the freight train. 

Seventeen passengers and three crew were assessed by ambulance services but were lucky to avoid injury or worse.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigation into that derailment was still underway when Thursday's tragedy happened. 

While all fingers are pointed directly at the condition of the federally owned track, politicians and authorities refused to jump to any conclusions when questioned by a media pack at the crash scene in Wallan on Friday. 

Just hours before the crash, V/Line had warned its customers that delays of up to 80 minutes were expected 'due to a ongoing rail equipment fault near Wallan'. 

It also warned about 'signalling issues' in the area. 

V/Line runs an adjacent track to the federal line, which was operating out of Albury to Melbourne.  

Victorian Transport Minister Melissa Horne said repair works had been 'kicking off' in the area when the crash happened, but refused to link the Barnawartha derailment to the Wallan crash. 

Two people have died after a train from Sydney to Melbourne derailed with 160 passengers on board. The Sydney-Melbourne express train is pictured with one carriage lying on its side

A passenger is taken into an ambulance by paramedics after being rescued from the wreckage

'There was the incidents at Barnawartha and we will continue to continue our maintenance schedule along that V/Line track,' she said. 

Ms Horne said she had written to the CEO of the Australian Rail Track Corporation to 'encourage' it to continue its maintenance works on its section of track. 

'I'm not aware if V/Line drivers were refusing to use the track,' she said. 

V/Line boss James Pinder said V/Line drivers had operated on the track yesterday and refused to say whether drivers had expressed concerns over its condition.

'I'm unaware of those comments that have been made,' he said.  

Mr Pinder said the ARTC had given V/Line assurances the section of track where the Barnawartha incident occurred had been deemed safe following the derailment there. 

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said he had confidence the track where yesterday's derailment took place was also safe. 

'No authorities would ever let a train go on an unsafe track and I want to make that very, very clear,' he said. 

Victorian Transport Minister Melissa Horne attended the crash scene at Wallan on Friday. Two people were killed in the tragedy 

Police assess the damaged train on Friday as investigators work to discover exactly what caused it to derail

One man told Channel Nine how train crew were handing out complaint cards to passengers moments before the horror derailment.

There are also reports of a signal fault and ongoing problems on that section of the track for weeks prior to the accident. 

In the two days leading up to the derailment, the V/Line Seymour Line, which operates on the same stretch of railway as the interstate service - took to social media to warn passengers of extensive delays on multiple services due to 'an ongoing rail equipment fault near Wallan'.

Authorities remained at the scene on Friday as investigations continue.

The track is expected to be closed for a number of days. 

All Seymour, Shepparton and Albury train services have been replaced by coaches until further notice.

The overnight Sydney to Melbourne XPT service terminated at Albury, where passengers are making their way to their final destination via coach. 

Friday morning services between the two cities have been replaced by coach for the entire journey. 

One person was taken to hospital in a stable condition and 11 others were taken to hospital with minor injuries. 

There are 20 people still unaccounted for, but Victoria Police told Daily Mail Australia they are believed to have evacuated the train before emergency crews arrived.    

They are urged to contact authorities to confirm they are safe.  

Rescue workers at the scene treat a patient on a stretcher. Some 160 people were on board when the train crashed

One passenger reported the carriages crumpling when the train derailed and items going 'flying' including tray tables 

 All passengers who were able to walk from the train have been taken to the Wallan McDonald's and the BP Truckstore area being used as a triage centre

At a triage centre set up at a nearby service station, a Sydney couple who had taken the train to visit their son in Melbourne said the tragedy had been terrifying.

'You just hang on for grim death. You're being thrown around, the things going along tilting over and all you can look out the window and just see dirt and debris and stuff flying up past the windows and the track itself is just twisted and bent,' the man said.

'It probably went about 150 metres before it stopped, there were carriages going sideways - pretty horrifying.'

The woman said her thoughts were with those who had died.

'We're very sad about that. Two people who went off to work this morning and never went home,' she said. 

The train, pictured on Thursday night, had left Sydney's Central Station at 7.40am on Thursday and was scheduled to arrive at Melbourne's Southern Cross Station at 6.30pm

Police officers are seen outside the triage centre created at a service station near the derailed train in Wallan on Thursday

The train had left Sydney's Central Station at 7.40am on Thursday and was scheduled to arrive at Melbourne's Southern Cross Station at 6.30pm. 

It was running more than two hours late at the time of the crash.

The track buckled and both carriages shifted at least 10 metres from their normal trajectory.

The train was reportedly gaining speed prior to coming off the tracks after stopping for a signalling issue. 

Luggage is pictured on railway tracks after the train from Sydney to Melbourne derailed on Thursday evening

Another passenger reported the carriages crumpling when the train derailed, but said most people were able to walk off the train by themselves.   

'Fortunately only a few people injured in our carriage,' the passenger Dr Scott Rickard wrote on Twitter. 

'Stuff flew everywhere. Carriages crumpled at edges. We walked out. Most people able to walk out.

'We're in a bit of shock, but OK. Drinking cuppas now.'

Another passenger told The Age the derailment lasted about a minute from the moment the train left the tracks to when it came to a halt.  

Emergency responders pictured at the scene of the derailment near Wallan station. The rail lines between Melbourne and Sydney have been closed as the injured are assessed at a nearby truck stop

People were tossing around … there was some screaming - everyone was just grasping on, some in the brace position, preparing for the possibility of something worse,' the passenger Rob Jennings said.

When the train finally stopped, he said passengers who were mostly unscathed by the derailment tried to free the driver - while others tried in vain to smash the windows of their carriage. 

Pictures taken at the scene showed one of the train's carriages on its side and luggage lying on the railway tracks.    

In the days before the derailment the V/Line Seymour Line had posted dozens of times on Twitter about delays due to a 'rail equipment fault' at Wallan

Passengers are pictured after the train derailed. Eleven people have been taken to hospital - one of whom is in a stable condition

Police and fire emergency services are pictured at the scene. At least three helicopters were deployed to the scene, which was described by the Country Fire Service as 'very chaotic'

A triage centre has been set up nearby following the derailment which happened about 7.50pm on Thursday

The rail lines between Melbourne and Sydney have been closed.

At least three helicopters were deployed to a scene the Country Fire Authority described as 'very chaotic'. 

All passengers who were able to walk from the train were taken to the Wallan McDonald's and the BP Truckstore area being used as a triage centre.

All passengers who were able to walk from the train were taken to the Wallan McDonald's and the BP Truckstore area being used as a triage centre