Police are searching for a man who may have tried to derail an

interstate express passenger train in southern NSW.

Two steel rods placed on the tracks on the Sydney-Melbourne XPT

line at The Rock, south of Wagga Wagga, on Friday night or Saturday

morning could have had "catastrophic" results if the train had run

into them, police said today.

The driver of the XPT en route to Melbourne spotted one rod and

managed to stop the train. The rod was removed just after 12.30am

(AEST) on Saturday.

Police searching the area later found a second, two-metre, rod

in the same spot on the tracks.

They are searching for a man who ran off when they approached

him in the area.

Police said the rods could have forced the train off the

tracks.

"The train could possibly push it off the track with no

significance, but the consequences could have also been

catastrophic," a police spokesman said.

AAP

Sydney Morning Herald