Two dead as car crashes into Melbourne train

Two people have been killed after their car crashed into a moving train in Melbourne's inner east.

The duo were inside a vehicle "in the vicinity of boom gates" in Surrey Hills when they were hit shortly before 4pm on Wednesday.

"The deceased are yet to be identified and the exact cause of the collision is yet to be determined," a police spokesperson said.

The car was heading north on Union Road when it collided with an express train from the Melbourne CBD with 200 people on board.

The train was set to go through the Surrey Hills station and was travelling at speed moments before the impact which split the car into two.

One half of the car ended up lodged underneath the train while the other half was wedged between the train and the platform.

Early reports suggest the driver may have been trying to navigate around the boom gates at the level crossing as witnesses watched on in horror.

"I looked up at the boom gates and I noticed that the car was slowly going through the crossing when the boom gates were down," one witness said.

"The car was lifted in the air by a train and carried forward. It was full on."