Man locked out of carriage during smoke break survives clinging onto Austrian high-speed train

The Railjet service can reach speeds of up to 143mph

The passenger was arrested on arrival in Vienna (Getty Images)

A man survived clinging to the carriage of a high-speed train in Austria after it began to leave while he was taking a cigarette break.

According to local media reports, the unnamed passenger got off the train to smoke on the platform during a stop in St Polten, Austria, on Saturday evening (August 9).

He reportedly climbed onto a space between two carriages as the train left the station.

The Railjet service from Zurich in Switzerland to Vienna, the Austrian capital, can reach speeds of up to 230 km/h (143 mph).

Austrian newspaper Heute said an emergency stop was performed by the train driver to allow the man to board after he banged on the windows to alert other rail passengers.

It added that the passenger, a 24-year-old Algerian man, had a heated interaction with the train conductor once safely back in the carriage.

“It is irresponsible, this kind of thing usually ends up with someone dying,” Austrian railways spokesperson Herbert Hofer told AFP.

He added: “And you’re not just putting yourself in danger, if you end up under the train, there’s rescuers, there’s police, fire service that come.”

The man was arrested on arrival at Vienna’s Meidling station, with the train pulling in seven minutes behind schedule.

Remarkably, this is not the first instance of such an event.

In January, a fare-evading passenger clung to the cables of a high-speed German train after a lengthy cigarette break. He saw the carriage doors close on his luggage and, unwilling to be left behind without his bags, he jumped onto the outside of the train as it pulled away from Ingolstadt station.

The 40-year-old Hungarian national held onto a bracket between carriages as the train continued to Nuremberg at 175mph.

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