A brick was thrown at a train near Lurgan in County Armagh.

The incident happened as the Enterprise service was on its way to Dublin shortly after 1800 BST on Friday.

The brick broke a window and the driver suffered cuts to the face and throat.

Staff are now getting to the stage where they are getting very worried about coming onto shift and nightshifts in particular

Keith Stewart Station officer

Meanwhile, an ambulance crew was attacked on the Stewartstown Road in west Belfast as it transported an elderly patient to hospital.

A bottle was thrown through the side window of the vehicle at about 2300 BST on Friday.

Station officer Keith Stewart said the continuing attacks also put the public at risk.

"Last night, when this incident happened, we lost that ambulance because the ambulance driver had to be taken to hospital," he said.

"For a short period of time, we were actually down ambulances in that area, which again has an impact on the service provision to the population of that area.

Keith Stewart: "Public put at risk"

"Staff are now getting to the stage where they are getting very worried about coming onto shift and nightshifts in particular.

"They feel they are now being seen as a legitimate target - anywhere they go they could now be bearing the brunt of a violent attack against them."

Ciaran Rogan of public transport operating company Translink said the thought of what could have happened after the train was attacked was too horrific to contemplate. "If a driver was to be injured in the course of controlling a train and he were to lose control of the train, a derailment could happen and there really could be a serious accident and a major loss of life," he said.

"It is not just attacks on trains and attacks on the driver in question, there really could be a huge catastrophe."

Cab window

Friday's incident is the latest in a series of attacks on train and bus drivers.

Ciaran Rogan: Could have been a catastrophe

Last month a train driver brought her train safely to a stop after it was attacked in Belfast.

The train was attacked with stones and bricks as it was pulling away from Great Victoria Street station in Belfast on Sunday night.

A rock smashed through the cab window, showering the driver with glass and injuring her hand.

None of the 10 passengers on board the train at the time was injured in the incident.

In January, a train driver was injured when he was struck by a brick on the railway line in County Down.