What are the dangers of train surfing?

This type of travelling 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 catenary wire, third rail, current collectors, resistors, etc.), colliding with railway infrastructure such as ...



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According to the NYPD, as of June 23, arrests for unsafe riding, which includes subway surfing, more than doubled from this time last year. This year has already seen 139 arrests, compared to just 68 in 2021.

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It should elicit a fine of a couple hundred dollars, but it could land you a month (or more) in jail and a fine in the ballpark of $1,000. CLICK HERE for more of Esquire's Guide to Minor Transgressions!

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Like many, the 19-year-old began subway surfing in his mid-teens. Most surfers climb to the top of the trains and lie down, kneel, or stand while the cars are moving, even if they're going as fast as 50 mph. Some surfers even sprint. Others stand on the ledges of the cars at the back of the train.

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Derailments rank as the most common type of accident involving major freight railroads, federal data shows. Equipment failures are increasingly responsible for derailments, and problems with equipment and train tracks accounted for nearly 60% of derailments nationwide last year.

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Where are security cameras placed on trains? For freight trains, placement is actually relatively simple, with security cameras being placed in the driver's car while also being implemented on the exterior of the front to monitor the tracks ahead and the back to keep track of the train itself.

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It is absolutely not legal to ride on any part of a freight train without the express permission of the railroad. You would be guilty of trespassing and of theft of service since you would be getting railroad transportation without paying for it.

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Today, the practice is illegal by statutes on many railroads in the world. Despite this, it is still practiced, especially on those railroads where the trains are overcrowded.

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The accidents are often minor and rarely lead to death or injury, though some have led to major environmental disasters. About 1,000 derailments occur every year across the United States, according to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). In 2022, there were 1,044 instances of trains coming off their tracks.

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While fatalities from train derailments are rare, derailments themselves are actually quite common. From 1990, the first year the BTS began tracking derailments and injuries on a yearly basis, to 2022, there have been 55,741 accidents in which a train derailed. That's an average of 1,689 derailments per year.

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