Surf's up - Ooyah!

[pfx]

Noticed this on the Beeb website today http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16605184

For those of you unable to access it, Indonesian railways are installing wires with concrete balls hanging form them, just above train roof height, in an effort to stop train 'surfing'.

The guys sitting on top of the electric train at the start of the vid are nuts. I've seen someone fry doing that and it's not pretty. Unfortunately, the concrete balls couldn't be installed on such lines.

 

[Steamdemon]

They really need to get the money to sort the overcrowding trains problem in india, starting with using the money on upgrading the rail infrastructure, then the locomotives.

 

[wholbr]

Hi Everybody.

They really need to get the money to sort the overcrowding trains problem in india, starting with using the money on upgrading the rail infrastructure, then the locomotives.

I don't know about India, but if they do not get the money to sort out the overcrowding problems on the UK railways we will see them travelling like that here before long.

With the electrification of the Bristol to London Paddington line perhaps we will get a never-ending free barbecue in the buffet car provided by the "roof passengers" HAHAha

Bill
can anybody tell me why the Smiley's do not work with Windows 7 (don't get on the forum much these days.)

 

[thartman1956]

Hi Everybody.

With the electrification of the Bristol to London Paddington line perhaps we will get a never-ending free barbecue in the buffet car provided by the "roof passengers" HAHAha

Well, here in the States, Amtrak has solved that problem by making nearly all their intercity trains "all reserved", meaning that reservations are required to travel on these trains. (In the past, many of their short and medium distance trains had open seating (or unreserved seats.) If there's not an available seat (or sleeping room) on the train you wish to take, then they won't sell you a ticket for that train, simple as that. During busy holiday and other peak travel periods, many Amtrak trains are sold out. For the Bristol to London Paddington line, perhaps the train operators need to not only invest in new seating capacity, but in a reservations system as well.

 

[cascaderailroad]

Well in the UK and the rest of Europe ... One of the # 1 Darwin Award, for most idiotic, most dangerous, lamebrained designed inventions is: the retractable highway bollard, that suddenly pops up and causes car crashs.

Why not just top the carriages with glued on shards of broken glass to discourage rooftop riders, or install high voltage bare cables on rooftops to give the rooftop riders a charge up ?

I think they need bigger balls.

 

[pfx]

Well in the UK and the rest of Europe ... One of the # 1 Darwin Award, for most idiotic, most dangerous, lamebrained designed inventions is: the retractable highway bollard, that suddenly pops up and causes car crashs.

You've blamed the wrong person. The Darwin award goes to the idiots who ignore the generally flashing signs, that warn you a bollard will rise from the pavement if you don't have an electronic key. They deserve to crash.

 

[mezzoprezzo]

... also for overhead electric trains!

An all round totally ill conceived plan. What a waste of time cash and effort, and potentially many lives as well.

This CNN report and video covers the same story with additional detail, including opening gates at roof level to let electric train pantographs through, but not the roof riders!

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/1...oncrete-balls-to-deter-roof-riders/?hpt=hp_t3

 

[Euphod]

The railway said it resorted to using the concrete balls after previous anti-roof-rider efforts – including greasing the roofs, spraying roof riders with colored water, and detentions and fines – didn't stop the practice.

I agree this is an ill conceived solution to the problem. The article even stated that there were no regulations excluding the practice. Proper regulation and enforcement would be the civilized approach, not a barbaric death mobile!
It doesn't even appear the balls hang low enough to discourage the practice, when someone could, in theory, lie down or crouch to avoid being hit. Of course, perhaps the angle of the camera was misleading...