Brought before an instructing magistrate, the suspect “remained silent”, the prosecutors’ office in the eastern French town of Chalon-sur-Saone said, adding that the man was a Romanian citizen.

After the man used a hammer to smash a window on the service linking Annecy with Paris on Thursday, a train inspector called for help from an armed policeman on board.

During a struggle the man seized the officer’s service weapon and allegedly fired off a shot before he could be brought under control with the intervention of several passengers.

There were no injuries reported.

Police also found a switchblade in the man’s pocket.