A 40-year-old man was caught clinging to the outside of a high-speed German train after missing his stop in a dramatic incident that ended with a police intervention. The man, a Hungarian national, boarded the Intercity Express (ICE) train in Munich without a valid ticket but decided to take a smoking break during a scheduled stop in Ingolstadt.
However, the man lingered too long over his cigarette, and as the train doors closed, he found himself locked out of the train, which was about to depart. Desperate to avoid being stranded, the man jumped onto a bracket between two carriages and clung to cables as the train accelerated toward Nuremberg at speeds of up to 282 km/h (175 mph).
The dangerous stunt was spotted by witnesses, who immediately alerted the authorities. Federal police quickly contacted the train driver, who made the decision to stop the train at Kinding, a small town in Upper Bavaria, around 30 kilometers from Ingolstadt.
The man told police that he had left his luggage on the train and did not want to be separated from it. Despite the harrowing ordeal, he was remarkably unharmed. A police officer, who was also traveling on the train, found the man and helped him back on board. He was later handed over to federal police when the train arrived at Nuremberg Central Station.
The man is now facing an investigation for benefit fraud, as well as charges for “an act disruptive to operations,” an administrative offense under German law. The federal police have warned the public about the dangers of such actions, stressing that no one should risk their life by attempting to board a moving train or cling to its exterior.
The incident, which took place on a six-hour journey from Munich to Lübeck, has raised concerns about the safety of passengers on Germany’s high-speed rail network. Police are urging travelers to always ensure they are safely on board before trains depart.
