Train Surfing - History

History

The phenomenon of riding on outside trains came with the appearance of the first railway lines. On a series of first railroads riding on rooftops and footboards of trains was common, but over time, starting from the second half of the 19th century, with an increase of trains in the sizes and speed, passenger coaches began to be produced fully covered and insulated from street with a placement of all passenger seats inside carriages in order to improve the safety of passengers and prevent falling people from a moving train. However, some individuals practiced riding on outside of trains to travel without having a ticket.

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.

In the first half of the 20th century during the era of trams rising in Europe and USA, trams in some cities became overcrowded, so some passangers began practice of riding on a footboards, doors, couplers and sometimes on the roofs of trams. Also, train surfing often occurred in European countries during the war conflicts, especially during the First World War, Russian Civil War and Second World War. Soldiers and refugees often traveled on the roofs of carriages due to lack of seats inside.

In the mid-20th century European and American railroad companies in many countries took measures to reduce overcrowding in cars and prevent riding on outside of them, so prevalence of train surfing in these countries decreased. However, in some countries of Southeast Asia and Africa with a high population density the problem of overcrowding of different vehicles, including trains, grew rapidly, so train surfing in these countries became widespread phenomenon.

As an extreme hobby, train surfing firstly appeared in South Africa during 1980s among teenagers from a poor families, and then became to appear in other countries around the world. A story from Associated Press dated June 17, 1988 out of Rio De Janeiro reports how teenagers as young as 13 had taken up surfing atop train cars in Brazil. Reporter Jorge Mederos stated that some 150 train surfers were killed in Brazil in 1987; at least 40 in the first half of 1988. According to the article, hundreds more were injured, some permanently paralyzed. The report also states that the government company that runs the commuter lines had paid the equivalent of $700,000 in death and injury claims. During the 1990s, train surfing on a commuter electric multiple unit trains became popular in Europe among young people, who live near railway lines.

In Germany, the practice of “S-Bahn surfing” was made popular during the 1990s. The phenomenon was forgotten until the millennium, but in 2005 it was rediscovered by a group of train surfers from Frankfurt, Germany. The leader of the crew who calls himself “the Trainrider” famously surfed the InterCityExpress, the fastest train in Germany. An internet video claimed that he died a year later from an incurable form of leukemia, but later the Trainrider revealed in an interview that this video was made by a fan and the story of his death was a hoax. In 2008 forty teenagers died in Germany because of train surfing.

In Soviet Union during 1980s teens and youths sometimes surfed trams. After dissolution of the Soviet Union the practice of surfing on electric multiple unit trains appeared during 1990s in Russia and some other post-Soviet countries due to economic crisis and growing of interest for extreme recreational activities among teens and youths, who live near the railroads. At the beginning of 21st century, they also began to surf subway trains in Moscow Metro and organized trainsurfing crews and web-communities. In the mid-2000s a problem of frequent cancellation of commuter trains and crowding inside railcars has appeared in the Moscow region. At summer of 2010, a dozens of commuter trains have been cancelled due to track repairs on the Moscow railway, so the crowding of trains and number of train surfers in Moscow region has risen dramatically. Also train surfers began to organize meetings and big-way surfing events on outside of commuter, subway and local freight trains via Internet. From the beginning of 2011, Russian train surfers began to ride on outside of a high-speed Siemens Velaro train "Sapsan", the fastest train in Russia. In 2011, over 100 people were killed or seriosly injured in Russia because of train surfing or climbing on roofs of standing trains too close to overhead wires, a few dozens of children train surfers were killed.