A train driver in Australia has urged people to keep away from railway tracks after he narrowly missed a biker who leaped out of the train's way at the last second.

Dramatic footage shows the man abandoning his bike on the tracks and jumping into the bushes, seconds before the train travelling at 160km/h speeds past.

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The man was so close to the train that driver Colin Sharp thought he had hit him.

"I was doing 160km/h, then as soon as I saw him, I applied the emergency brake but I was still doing 147km/h at the time I passed him," Sharp told 7 News.

"He was pushing the bike across the bridge... as soon as he saw me he fumbled with the bike trying to get it off, then finally got some sense and decided to get himself off and leave the bike where it was.

"I really honestly thought I had (hit) him and, thank god, I didn't."

The man was travelling in a group of trail bikers, but was the only one who got caught on the tracks. The bikers were only 50 metres from the nearest crossing point. The near miss occurred around Ballan, a town 78 kilometres northwest of Mebourne.

Sharp said that many people think a train can come to an abrupt halt in an emergency situation, but pointed out that this was not the case.

The near fatal incident was one of 300 in the Victoria area in the past year.