A German driver survived after her sat nav took her onto a railway line, where she got stuck, and she got out in the nick of time before a high-speed train steamrolled her car.

The incident took place in the municipality of Vechelde, in the district of Peine, in the north-western German state of Lower Saxony, at around 8.30pm on Saturday (26th March).

The woman had been driving in her car and had followed her sat nav’s last instruction – to turn left – prematurely. She thereby ended up on a railway line, where her Chevrolet got stuck on the tracks.

An Intercity Express (ICE) train carrying 320 passengers en route from Berlin to Karlsruhe was fast approaching.

She managed to get out of her car just seconds before the train, which was travelling at almost 160kph (99mph), smashed into the vehicle, pushing it several hundred metres down the track before coming to a stop.

The car was left completely mangled, as seen in these photos.

Both the motorist and the train driver, neither of whom were named in local media reports, emerged unscathed but were shaken.

The fire brigade, rescue service, police and Deutsche Bahn (national railway company of Germany) emergency managers were quickly dispatched to the scene, where they helped the passengers to change trains.

A relief train towed away the crashed ICE and a salvage company removed the remains of the woman’s Chevrolet from the rails.

According to initial estimates, the damage sustained amounts to EUR 750,000 (GBP 625,000). The Braunschweig-Berlin railway line was also closed for hours