The phenomenon of riding on the outside of trains came with the appearance of the first railways.
Not actually with the first ancient system of railways from ancient Greece, but shortly
After the first metal tracks and steam trains.
At the beginning of the 1830s, only 40 miles of metal railway was built in the United States,
But after the half of the 19th century and the end of the American Civil War, the length
Of railway tracks reached 30,000 miles.
The number of high-speed trains continued to increase, hitting 164,000 miles by the
End of 1890.
Passengers trains were begging to be more crowded and although seats were placed inside
to ensure the safety of the riders and prevent people from falling from a moving train, some
Still preferred to ride the train.
People who had to travel distances to work were the first ones to surf on trains because
The wage of a simple migrant blacksmith was $10 a week and a train ticket costed about
$1.30, so many individuals rode trains to avoid paying a ticket.
This is how the nickname of 'hobos' was created, the workers being one of the first to surf on trains.
With the start of the 20th century, the era of trams and trains began to rise
in many European and American cities.
Trams were becoming overpopulated, so many people were riding on top of them due to the
lack of seats inside.
But because of all the issues with hopping of trains, railroad companies took measures
to increase the capacity of seats, so overcrowding in many regions decreased.
However, in some countries of Southeast Asia and Africa with a high population density,
the problem continued, so the habit of train-hopping continued not only to persist but grew rapidly,
train surfing becoming a widespread phenomenon.
At the beginning of the 1980s, in South Africa,
train surfing became something teenagers would perform to feel adrenaline and to forget about
their problems at home, most of them having issues with parents or being very poor.
It became some sort of lifestyle, attracting teenagers living near the railways into one
place and doing something together and forgetting about everything and taking part in this culture,...
or sport, as some teens in South Africa who are considered masters at train riding like
to call it.
From the 1980s, the hobby grew rapidly in popularity, but like in any other extreme
sport, there are also injures and deaths.
Hundreds of individuals were and are being killed yearly doing stunts on top of trains.
But many people around the world still like to do it, because it is a way to express yourself,
to relieve your anger, to see the view around or just to feel good.
Most of the train surfers who like to do stunts surf on slower trains, like freight trains,
which have an average speed of 40 miles an hour, but some people hop on high-speed passenger
trains, like the "Sapsan", which is the fastest train in Russia, which can go as fast as 150 miles an hour.
But how does a train surfer has to prepare before he goes on a journey
like this?
So firstly, a train hopper should find a train station where he is going to start.
Like any other trip, train surfing has a starting point and an endpoint.
The distance between the points can be as long as few miles or hundreds of miles.
Depending on the length, a train surfer should have water, food and if the journey is too
long, a sleeping bag is needed.
Then, a train hopper should wait in the chosen train station for as long as he needs until
a train is going in the right direction.
If he has a certain type of two-way radio, he can intercept radio waves that can help
him know when a train is coming to a station and what direction it is heading.
This kind of equipment is important because if he hops on a train and it goes the wrong
direction, the train surfer is pretty much screwed and he has to get off at the next
station and then wait another few hours until another train will come into the station.
On the other hand, the radio and the batteries are pretty heavy, so that's a thing that can
hold you back quite a bit.
After many hours of waiting in the bushes near the railway, a train finally pops out
and the train hopper gets on it, considering the train was moving slow enough and there
were no workers nearby.
After this, he needs to hide pretty well, because at the ends of every station there
are bridges from where security might watch.
If he gets out of the station and has not been seen, the train surfer will try and find
a comfortable spot where he can wait and enjoy the journey.
But, if he has been seen at the end of the station, the police or the security might
wait for him at the end of the station and if he gets caught, he can be fined as little
as $3 in Russia or up to $1250 in the United Kingdom.
Other issues that could disturb the journey are cameras that are set up near the stations
and from where security will watch from the booth.
Also, a train surfer which does stunts on the top of the train can be seen by the conductor
or if any other trains pass by.
Train surfing gets more dangerous if you want it to get dangerous.
For example, if you only want to travel without ticket in countries where train-hopping is
tolerated, that is still risky, but not extremely dangerous, because the trains move slower
there and there is little to no risk to get electrocuted.
On the other hand, if you surf alone in a country where this is illegal, that gets more
dangerous.
For example, you can make a wrong step, get hit by a pole get electrocuted, or if you
surf on a diesel train, you can get asphyxiated when passing through a tunnel.
All of these plus the tough that you could be seen by security in the stations can be
a problem.
If you want to perform stunts on the top of the train, then only a fraction of lack of
attention can end your life...
In Asia, train surfing is still used just to avoid overcrowding.
Train surfing remains a hobby in the rest parts of the world and its culture is growing
rapidly around the world, now that anybody can post train surfing on the internet.
Train surfers can use social networks to find and communicate with each other and organize
trips by trains in small groups.
In countries where a big community of train surfers exists, they sometimes organize major
events of riding on the outside of local trains, where dozens of riders participate and enjoy
this extreme sport...
Thanks for watching!