Irish Rail has described the actions of a driver who crashed through a level crossing barrier as "reckless in the extreme".
Gardaí are now investigating the incident which occured at the level crossing near Knockcroghery, Co Roscommon, just as the Athlone-Westport train was approaching.
The driver of the wine-coloured car crashed through the barrier at just after 10am on Sunday morning.
When the driver got to the other barrier, he or she turned around and drove back out the barrier they had just crashed through.
Irish Rail spokeswoman Jane Cregan said gardaí are examining CCTV footage of the incident captured at the scene.
She added that when the driver crossed over the rail line a second time, the train was approaching.
“We have incidents where people would have behaved wrecklessly at level crossings, but this was extremely reckless and really bizarre. We have no way of knowing what their motivations were,” she said.
The train was delayed for 40 minutes as a result of the incident.
