In brief
A 40-year-old Hungarian man evaded ticket checks in a risky bid, clinging to a German high-speed train as it sped towards Nuremberg at 175 mph. After missing his stop due to a smoking break, he was rescued unharmed following police intervention, now facing possible fraud charges.
In an extraordinary incident on a German high-speed ICE train, a Hungarian national found himself in a life-threatening situation after attempting to dodge fare payment. The 40-year-old boarded the train from Munich without a valid ticket but decided to take a smoke break at the Ingolstadt station. Unfortunately, he lingered too long, causing the train doors to shut, leaving him stranded. In a desperate move, he jumped onto a bracket situated between two train carriages, clinging to cables as the train raced towards Nuremberg, reaching speeds of up to 282 km/h (175 mph).Witnesses aboard the train quickly alerted authorities, prompting federal police to coordinate with the train driver for an emergency stop approximately 30 kilometers later in Kinding, Upper Bavaria. This high-speed journey was part of a larger six-hour route heading to Lübeck. The man openly admitted to police that leaving his luggage onboard motivated his dangerous maneuver, asserting he didn’t want to be separated from it. Remarkably, despite the perilous ordeal, he emerged with no injuries. A state police officer who happened to be traveling on the same train assisted him and subsequently turned him over to federal police at Nuremberg central station. Now, the fare-dodging passenger is under investigation for benefit fraud and could face administrative charges for causing disruptions to train operations. Authorities caution the public against engaging in such reckless behavior on Germany’s railways.
