Cab driver had lucky escape in accident that could have caused a major rail disaster on rail line between Bradford and Shipley

And they are yet to interview the driver, who had a miracle escape after his blue Skoda Octavia smashed through a fence and rolled down a steep wooded bank, off a five-foot stone wall and onto the busy commuter line just after 9am.

He was the only occupant of the AA Carz private hire cab and was rushed to Bradford Royal Infirmary for treatment to minor head injuries.

Network Rail received a report of a car on the track at 9.15am and in Bradford passengers were given an apology for delays at 9.30am at Forster Square station. Disruption lasted more than two hours.

Fire, police and ambulance attended the incident just below the Victoria Street bridge over the railway at the bottom of Saltaire Road near the Aagrah Restaurant.

And no trains were able to pass for some 35 minutes until the badly damaged saloon car had been pulled off the tracks.

A spokeswoman for British Transport Police said: "BTP officers were called to Shipley railway station following reports that a car had crashed through a fence and onto the track near the station.

"Officers discovered a blue Skoda estate had crashed though a fence and onto the tracks near Victoria Street bridge.

"The driver of the vehicle suffered minor injuries and was taken to Bradford Royal Infirmary for treatment.

"The car was removed from the line and inquiries are continuing to determine how it came to be on the tracks."

Watch Commander Jav Khan, from Shipley White Watch, who was first on the scene, said: “My initial concern was that there might have been someone still in the car.

“However, fortunately the male occupant had managed to clamber out and up the embankment.”

WC Khan checked with the Control Room that Network Rail had stopped the trains and also sent firefighters up and down the line just in case a train was approaching and needed to be warned.

WC Khan said: “If a train had hit that car it would have been a major incident with potentially catastrophic consequences if it had derailed.

“This is the first incident of this type that I have been to and I have been in the fire service for eight years.

“This man has had a very lucky escape.”

Watch Manager Julie Carter, who works in the Control Room, added: “Fortunately the swift actions of the fire service and Network Rail have averted a potential disaster. We’re just pleased that this incident has ended without tragedy.”

Investigators from Network Rail, which manages track and infrastructure joined police scenes of crime officers on the former petrol station forecourt where AA Carz has its offices and parking for cabs beside a busy hand car wash.

And at 10.45am officers were still taking statements from other drivers at the well-known cab firm.

The tarmac parking area slopes slightly down towards a single-thickness wooden plank fence which separates it from the steep drop down to a retaining stone wall and then the rail track.

And a car-size gap between upright wooden posts showed exactly where the cab had crashed through.

A BTP spokesman said it was not yet known if the car had gone backwards or forwards down the slope.

"We are talking to witnesses to piece together what happened and hopefully find out exactly how the car came to be on the tracks."

Staff at the nearby car wash said they had not seen anything and cab drivers gathered at the scene said they had only arrived after the incident.

"We don't know what happened. It's really lucky no-one was badly hurt," said one cabbie, who asked not to be named.