Tourist survives night ride on side of Australian train

An American tourist has survived a terrifying late night train ride, clinging to the side of a train as it hurtled through the South Australian Outback at speeds of up to 70 mph (110 km/h).

Chad Vance, 19, from Alaska was travelling on the legendary Ghan train from Adelaide to Alice Springs when a late return to the station during a scheduled stop threatened to leave him stranded hundreds of miles from his destination.



He chased the train as it pulled away then clambered up the side of the train and squeezed into a tiny stairwell between carriages.

The train had gone over 120 miles before a Ghan crew member heard the Alaskan student's cries for help and brought the train to an emergency halt, rescuing Mr Vance from almost certain death.



"Chad is a very lucky guy - when we rescued him his skin was white and his lips were blue," said his rescuer Chad Wells, a technician with The Ghan's operator, Great Southern Railway.

"We were still about three hours away from our next scheduled stop and in that time, he could have easily died of hypothermia or lost his grip and fallen to his death if he hadn't been rescued," Mr Wells said.