A man has survived clinging to the outside of an Austrian high-speed train, Austria's state railway said Sunday, reportedly after it left whilst he was having a cigarette break.

The man late Saturday grabbed onto the outside of the train at St Poelten, west of Vienna, railways spokesman Herbert Hofer told AFP, and was later taken onboard after the train performed an emergency stop.

"It is irresponsible, this kind of thing usually ends up with someone dying," he said.

"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," he added.

The railjet train was on its way from Zurich in Switzerland to the Austrian capital and left Sankt Poelten on time but arrived in Vienna with a seven-minute delay, Hofer said.

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