Train surfing
This type of travelling can be extremely exciting and even life-threatening, because there is a risk of death or serious injury due to falling off a moving train, electrocution by the power supply (overhead catenary wire, third rail, current collectors, resistors, etc.
In the United States, this became a common means of transportation following the American Civil War as the railroads began pushing westward, especially among migrant workers who became known as "hobos".
It continued to be widely used by those unable to afford other transportation, especially during times of widespread economic dislocation such as the Great Depression.
The practice of surfing on electric trains appeared during the 1990s in Russia and some other post-Soviet countries due to the economic crisis and growing interest among teens and youths who lived near the railroads.
In around the year 2000 they also began to surf subway trains in tunnels in the Moscow Metro and organized train-surfing crews and web-communities.
[5][6]Beginning in the mid-2000s there were frequent cancellations of commuter trains and crowding inside rail cars in the Moscow region.
This was when train surfing for the first time became a wide phenomenon on Russian railways and it caused a big scandal.
After the railroad track repairs were completed overcrowding on trains began to reduce and the number of ordinary passengers who were roof riding disappeared.
Roof riding among teenagers became more popular and they began to create a community of train surfers and post videos on YouTube.
[9][10] In Indonesia, especially Greater Jakarta, large numbers of people train surf,[11] especially since the late 1990s, as gridlock grips this metropolis of 30 million without a single metro system, and the city comes up with alternative transport such as car jockeys.
Some railroad workers, such as shunters or conductors, are often allowed to ride on exterior parts of trains during shunting operations, but with many limitations.
[13] A person can receive an electric shock from an overhead power line or conductor rail when their body comes into contact with it.
[15] An electric arc can go from an overhead power line and pass through the air and then make contact with a person's body.
Police officers and guards usually patrol the territory of large passenger stations and freight yards, and can arrest train surfers if they are spotted.
[29] The Indonesian railway company, PT Kereta Api, has tried several methods to deter train surfers.
Early methods included spraying those caught with red paint and placing barbed wire on train roofs.
