Man narrowly escapes as he clung to German high-speed train for 20 miles

Man jumped on to bracket between carriages after doors closed and hung on as train sped along at 170mph

A man survived unscathed after clinging to the outside of a German high-speed train as it barrelled along at up to 170mph (280km/h), police said on Friday.

The 40-year-old Hungarian man was having a cigarette on a platform in Bavaria when the train doors shut, prompting him to jump on to the bracket between two carriages.

The unidentified man told police he opted for the daredevil act because his luggage was still on the Intercity Express train headed cross-country from Munich to Lübeck.

He spent the next 20 miles gripping on to cables before the train was brought to a controlled stop after witnesses had spotted him and alerted authorities.

The man had boarded the train in Munich and had jumped back on between carriages in Ingolstadt. Police arrested him in the Bavarian town of Kinding before the train continued north.

The man was being investigated for financial impropriety since he did not have a valid ticket, federal police said, as well as for acts that disturb normal operations.

In 2017, a 59-year-old man likewise survived clinging to the side of the Hannover-Bielefeld Express train for 15 miles.

Police implored people to avoid similar “life-threatening nonsense”.

A new year’s resolution you can actually keep

These days I only have one rule when it comes to new year resolutions: do not, under any circumstances, write them down. Don’t put them on social media, or on a Post-it note stuck to your bathroom mirror, or in the notes section of your phone. Chances are high you won’t keep your resolutions, but as long as you don’t write them down chances are equally high you’ll have no memory of making them by next December. 

I’ve learned there is simply no point in negotiating with future you – this person who no longer shares your goal to write a play, or to read 50 books in a year. Don’t let their failure be your failure. Besides: if you only manage to read nine books in 2025, you’ll still be nine books less stupid than you were in 2024.

In the meantime here’s something you can do right now to override future-you’s lack of commitment: support the Guardian’s work in 2025. You’ll be supporting independent journalism at a time when it’s more desperately needed than ever, and I promise that we will never send you an email reminding you to practice your Italian.

Source: The Guardian