The accident took place at 6am at Linghem station, 10 kilometres east of Linköping in central Sweden.

“We’re told the victim of the accident was a snow removal worker from the Swedish Rail Administration,” said Elina Yli-Torvi, spokeswoman for Swedish state rail operator SJ.

The victim was hit by a high speed X2000 train travelling from Norrköping to Linköping.

“This is being viewed as an accident in the workplace,” said emergency services coordinator Krister Fält.

Rail traffic came to a standstill immediately after the accident but was back on track by 9am. SJ arranged for replacement buses to take passengers to their final destinations in the intervening period.