Train surfing in South Africa is nothing new.

Standing outside the train while its moving, either on the side or on top, train surfers perform stunts such as dodging the overhead lines.

Of course, not only is this behaviour highly illegal, but it’s extremely dangerous, too.

GroundUp’s Ricardo Afrika filmed and photographed just a few of the young men who perform these acts, mainly between Mutual and Khayelitsha stations during peak hours – between 7AM to 8AM and from 3PM to 7PM:

Trains are often congested during these times. Commuters hang on doors, windows, between carriages and even on top of the trains. But train surfing means more than merely hanging on to the outside; it involves doing stunts too. There were about ten people surfing when these images and videos were shot.

Surfers range in age from school boys to blue collar workers. Primary and high school students typically do what is called “ukulathaza”: running next to the train on the platform until it is at high speed, and then they jump in. Some of the adults take it to the extreme of running on top of the train while it is in motion and ducking under cables and bridges, as in the videos below.

No one appears to make a serious effort to stop the surfers. There’s a lack of security and the trains are packed, with no authorities around to check on safety. If there are security personnel, they usually stand with the drivers on each end of the train, which means they can’t really see what happens when the train is in motion.

What you see below was filmed on 10 October at about 6:45PM between Philippi and Stock Road stations.

When Afrika asked “Spiderman”, a blue collar worker who surfs, why he does it, he replied:

“To us this is a sport. I mostly do it for adrenaline and the thrill can get addictive.”

What a way to start and end your day.

[source:news24]