About 4.30am, police from Manning/Great Lakes Local Area Command were called to Bushland Drive railway crossing in Taree, after reports a man had been hit by a train.

On arrival officers found an 18-year-old man on the tracks, with his legs severed. He was taken to John Hunter Hospital in a serious condition.

The train driver, a 33-year-old man from Queensland, who managed to stop the train soon after the accident and contact emergency services, was taken to Manning Base Hospital for mandatory blood and urine testing.

A crime scene was established and specialist officers attended the location.

An investigation is currently underway into the circumstances surrounding the incident. Initial inquiries suggest the 18-year-old was celebrating his birthday with family and friends at a residence near the railway line in the hours before he was hit by the train.

Police inquiries will also examine the actions of a group of people who threw rocks at police officers, and the train driver, forcing them to take refuge in the train driver’s cabin. Ambulance paramedics were also blocked, pushed and verbally abused by the group during their initial attempts to treat the teen, and an ambulance vehicle was damaged after being hit by rocks.

Police reinforcements were called and a number of other officers attended the location and dispersed the group. No one was injured as a result.