Passenger clings to German high-speed train after smoking break goes wrong

A fare-dodging passenger on a German high-speed train ended up clinging to the outside when it left the station before he was ready to board, police say.

The 40-year-old had boarded the ICE train in Munich without a valid ticket and wanted to take a smoke break at Ingolstadt station.

But he took too long to smoke and the train doors closed, leaving him with the prospect of being stranded.

He then jumped onto a support between two carriages and clung to the cables as the train barreled toward Nuremberg at up to 282 km/h (175 mph), until federal police stopped him about 30 kilometers away.

Witnesses alerted authorities and they contacted the train driver, who made an unscheduled stop in Kinding, Upper Bavaria. The intercity express made a six-hour journey to the northern city of Lübeck.

The man, a Hungarian national, told police that he had left his luggage on the train during his smoking break and that he did not want to be separated from it.

He was “surprisingly” unharmed after his reckless journey, a police spokesman said.

“A state police officer traveling on the train found the 40-year-old Hungarian ‘passenger’ and put him on the train,” the spokesman said, adding that he was handed over to the federal police at Nuremberg Central Station.

The man is now being investigated for benefit fraud.

He is also expected to face charges for “an act that disrupts operations,” which is considered a mere administrative violation.

The federal police have warned the population not to risk their lives on German trains.