The two teens – estimated to be between 13 and 15 years old – climbed onto the back of a regional train in Ebersbach near Göppingen on Thursday afternoon, federal police spokesman Michael Glöckler told The Local.

“They put themselves in extreme danger by surfing on the train like that,” he said.

After the teens were spotted hanging onto the outside of the carriage by the driver of a passing freight train, the engineer of their train made an emergency stop. The two train surfers fled, but the route was closed completely for 45 minutes, which caused several hours of delays.

“We had to make sure they weren’t still on the tracks,” said Glöckler, adding that most incidents of so-called train surfing happened in larger cities in Germany. “It used to be pretty widespread.”

The police are now investigating the incident for dangerous interference in railway traffic.