The accident

A 24-year-old man died on Friday evening, 23 October 2026, after a freight train hit him east of Aarau station in the canton of Aargau. The collision was reported at 19:45. The man and his younger brother had walked onto the wide track area to save time, and the man had already crossed several tracks when the train, travelling at high speed, reached him. The brother was not injured.

Police say the two men had entered the rail area without permission and that everything so far points to a tragic accident. The cantonal police found no indication of a crime, and the public prosecutor's office has opened an investigation.

Rail disruption

The line between Aarau and Rupperswil was closed for several hours after the collision, and the station was also sealed off, according to Blick, which cited reader reports for the station closure. SBB said in a notice that it expected the disruption to last until 23:00 and warned of delays, cancellations and detours. The affected services included EC, NJ, IC1, IC3, IC8, IR, RE12, S11 and others.

The Aarau closure was not the only disruption that Friday. Earlier that evening, storm damage at several points along Lake Geneva caused restrictions, and in Valais a freight train damaged the overhead line between Visp and Brig. A regional train had to be towed from that section. Some long-distance trains were diverted towards Bern via Kandersteg, IC8 services were cancelled between Spiez and Brig, and IR90 and IR95 were cancelled between Brig and Siders. Replacement buses were deployed, though only in limited numbers.

Open questions

The available reports confirm the death, the time of the collision and the police assessment, but they give no further account of how the 24-year-old came to be struck. The Kantonspolizei Aargau has taken up its inquiries, and the prosecutors' investigation is ongoing. Blick reported that police planned to publish a press release on the incident, and the contents of that release were not included in the articles reviewed.