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Train surfing (also known as train hopping, train hitching, or subway surfing) is the act of riding on the outside of a moving train, tram, or other form of rail transport vehicle. This may be done for reasons of overcrowding, to avoid buying a ticket, or as a form of entertainment.
In a number of countries, the term train hopping is used synonymously with freight hopping, the act of riding on the outside of a freight train. Train surfing can be practiced on any type of train.
Train surfing can be extremely dangerous 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 Overhead line wire, third rail, current collectors, , etc.), collision with railway infrastructure such as bridges, tunnels, station platforms, trackside buildings, railway signals or other trains, while riding outside of structure gauge on the side or on the roof of a train, or unsuccessful attempts to jump onto a moving train or off it.
The practice is illegal in most parts of the world, but it is still practiced on railways where the trains are overcrowded.
As trams became more common in Europe and the United States in the early 20th century, overcrowding prompted passengers to begin riding on footboards, doors, couplers and sometimes on the roofs of trams. European conflicts such as the First World War, Russian Civil War and World War II frequently saw soldiers and refugees travelling on the roofs of carriages due to lack of seating.
In the mid-20th century, railways in many European and American countries took measures to reduce overcrowding in carriages and prevent riding outside of them, so the prevalence of train surfing in those countries decreased. In some countries of Southeast Asia and Africa with a high population density, however, the problem of overcrowding of different vehicles, including trains, grew rapidly, so train surfing in those countries became a widespread phenomenon.
Beginning in the mid-2000s there were frequent cancellations of commuter trains and crowding inside rail carriages in the Moscow region, leading to ordinary passengers riding on the roofs. In 2012 a Russian transport inspector said that "the fashion for train surfing began about three years ago, when they started running high-speed Sapsan trains. Because of this, there were big gaps in the electric train schedule. As a result, there was not enough space in the cars for everyone who wanted to. So people found a way out of the situation."
In Indonesia, especially Greater Jakarta, large numbers of people train surf, 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. Jakarta traffic is the most gridlocked in Southeast Asia, perhaps among the worst worldwide. It has built a Transjakarta, but with little success, as there is no separation from the heavy traffic. The tropical heat and urban heat island effect also makes the top the only place on the train with plenty of air circulation. Since 2013 the practice has been eliminated after the state railway company Kereta Api Indonesia modernized the ticketing system, allowing tickets to be sold up to 90 days in advance, and including check in requirements along with increasing the amount of rolling stock. On KRL Commuterline, stations are modernized by installing turnstiles, implementing contactless payment and locking down the station. All non-commuter train now have passenger limit of 100 to 110% while previously a service could run at 200% or more capacity.
Individuals may train-surf in countries such as Bangladesh and South Africa to avoid the cost of a ticket or as a recreational activity.
Some railway workers, such as shunters or conductors, are often allowed to ride on exterior parts of trains during shunting operations, but with many limitations.
Both train surfing and tram surfing were practiced by Soviet Union youths in the 1980s. The practice of surfing on electric trains increased in popularity in 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 railways.
During this period from the 2000s to 2010 when roof riding among teenagers became more popular in Russia they began to create a community of train surfers and post videos on YouTube. Train surfers began to organize meetings and big-way surfing events on the outside of commuter, subway and local freight trains via the Internet. Russian train-surfing fans began to call themselves and also name their hobby (from the Russian word "Зацепиться-Zatsepitsya" translated as "to catch on"). Train surfing became something like an extreme sport discipline for them. 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.
From the beginning of 2011, Russian train surfers made several rides on the outside of the high-speed Siemens Velaro train "Sapsan", the fastest train in Russia. In 2017, a Russian student spoke of travelling to school on the roof of a commuter train, or between its carriages. One recreational train surfer said that due to the increased overcrowding on trains, recreational train surfing on Sapsan trains "became easier" with commuters being less surprised by the practice and train staff more relaxed when reporting and ejecting them.
In South Africa, as an extreme hobby, train surfing firstly appeared in the 1980s among teenagers from poor families. Teenagers as young as 13 were reported as train surfing in Rio de Janeiro in 1988. During the 1990s, train surfing on a commuter electric multiple unit train 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 2005, when it was rediscovered by a group of train surfers from Frankfurt. The leader of the crew who calls himself "the Trainrider" 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.
With the creation of the internet, the practice of filming the act and posting online videos of it is on the increase worldwide. Train surfers can use to find and communicate with each other and organize trips by trains in small groups. Larger communities of train surfers sometimes organize major events in which dozens of people ride outside trains.
A person can receive an electric shock from an overhead power line or conductor rail when their body comes into contact with it.
Overhead line on railways are also able to create an electric arc meaning that a person does not need to make contact with the power line to receive an electric shock. In 2013 Julius Gerhardt was spraying graffiti on freight carriages when he climbed on top of a carriage intending to tag a bridge. He was holding a spray can in his right hand, and an electric arc jumped over to the spray can and went through his hand, arm, and chest, then exited out of his right foot. He lost consciousness and was then lifted up and carried to a street by the people with him. He was in a coma in hospital for 36 hours, and then later put into a medically induced coma for a week. He received burns to over 90% of his body. The person commented that "I didn't know about arcs. In the arc, like lightning, electricity is conducted through the air. I had the spray can in my right hand. When I raised my hand, the metal became an antenna. The air transmitted the voltage—and I flew off the train car." It has further been commented that "...it is quite possible that from a distance of one meter, a breakdown electric arc will occur on a wristwatch, a phone in a pocket or a belt buckle, that is, on any metal object."
For an electric arc to occur there does not need to be a metallic object on a persons body as the high amount of water in human bodies is enough to create an electric arc. In 2013 a 15 year-old was train surfing when an electric arc jumped over to their body from over head power lines. He was taken to hospital and was in a critical but stable condition and it was thought that he had not "...touched the cables but was struck by an arc of electricity after getting too close to the wires."
In 2012 a person climbed onto the roof of a train and after the train moved a few metres they were hit by an electric arc and the train stopped moving due to a short circuit. The person fell off the side of the train and they received burns to 75% of their body, were put into an artificial coma and were in a very critical condition. At the time of the accident it was commented that "The current radiates from a cable like that up to 1.5 meters away. This is called an arc. So you don't even have to touch the line directly to get an electric shock...". It was further commented that in Moscow, when people are riding "...on the roof of an electric train, there is a risk of injury due to electric shock at a distance of up to 1.5 meters from the high-voltage contact wire. That is, to receive a strong electric shock, it is not necessary to touch the wire - it is enough to be in close proximity. The nominal voltage of the contact wire is 3000 volts. Under operating conditions, it varies from 2000 to 4000 volts. The distance at which the electric current strikes varies depending on the voltage in the contact network and climatic conditions - for example, humidity or air temperature."
In South Africa in 2006, 19 people died whilst train surfing with a further 100 train-surfing accidents occurring.
In Indonesia, in two years before 2008, 53 people died whilst train surfing.
In the Russian Central Federal District in 2015 there were 24 people injured whilst train surfing and in 2016 in the Central Federal District there were 9 people who died whilst train surfing.
In New York, from 1989 to 2011, there were 13 people who died and 56 people injured train surfing.
In New York City, on October 23, 2024, a 13-year-old boy became the 5th person to die in 2024 from subway surfing.
In Ukraine, in 2017, there were 12 people who died whilst train surfing.
In Brooklyn, New York, Zemfira Mukhtarov, 12, of Brooklyn, and Ebba Morina, 13, of Manhattan, were found on top of the NYC train on October 6, 2025 unconscious and nonresponding. The death was due to NYC subway surfing.
In the United Kingdom, train surfing is prohibited under railway byelaw No. 10, which prohibits travelling in or on any train except in areas of the train intended for use by that person.
At least 87 people were arrested in the last four months of 2010 on Melbourne's railways for offences relating to train surfing. In Russia, over 1000 train surfers were arrested at the Moscow Railway during ten months of 2011. In India, 153 people were prosecuted in a single day in June 2012 for train surfing on the Central Railway.
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. In 2012, the company began suspending heavy concrete balls above the railway, a short distance from the stations. This method was criticised as being potentially lethal.
Injuries and deaths
In the decade before August 2000, in Brazil, there were 100 people who died in more than 200 accidents.
Prevention and punishments
Train surfing is illegal in most jurisdictions of the world. Many railways take a zero tolerance policy to practice of riding on exterior parts of trains, and employ railway police and guards in an attempt to prevent the practice. Police officers and guards usually patrol the territory of large passenger stations and freight yards, and can arrest train surfers if they are spotted. In some countries, railway police can patrol the territory of railways in utility trucks, ("bullmobiles"), or even standard . In countries where the practice of trains surfing occurs regularly, the police frequently organize raids in order to detect surfers so that they can be removed and arrested. The most common form of penalty for train surfers is a fine. However, in some countries, such as the United States or Canada, train surfers can be both fined and imprisoned.
Deterrents
To reduce the practice of riding on the outside of trains, railway companies often place signs that warn about the dangers of train surfing. While there are no official numbers, in 2007, the London Underground ran a public awareness campaign against "tube surfing".
See also
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