Two people have been injured after a man with a knife attacked passengers on a train, Austrian police have said.

It happened early on Tuesday near the village of Sulz in the western Vorarlberg province.

Officers say the attacker was a 60-year old German national who appeared to be mentally ill.

The two victims are both male and in their teens.

One, aged 19, had wounds to his stomach and back. The other victim, 17, suffered a throat injury.

Police said the perpetrator lunged at the 19-year-old from a facing seat.

The 17-year-old was apparently attacked as the train came to a halt in Sulz, which is about six miles (10 kilometres) from the Swiss border.

Two police officers used pepper spray to subdue the attacker at the station.

A 22-year-old passenger suffered minor cut wounds to the hand after helping the officers.

Police say there is no connection to an incident on a Swiss train on Saturday in which a 27-year-old man killed a woman and injured other passengers with a knife and burning liquid.