Prasa slams train surfing videos

Friday, October 20, 2017

The Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) has appealed to people sharing videos on social media depicting incidents of train surfing to refrain from doing this.

“The first two videos, shared courtesy of Ground Up News, depict youngsters riding on the roof of a moving train in the Western Cape, narrowly dodging 25 kilovolt lines, which carry 2 500 volts of electricity,” Prasa said in a statement.

The agency said it was mostly concerned about the sharing of an unfortunate fatality as a consequence of train surfing, which took place in 2015. 

“Prasa would like to appeal to all those sharing the unfortunate footage to respect the memory of the young man and not to glorify incidents of criminality.

“Passengers and communities are encouraged instead to report those train surfers and potentially save a young life,” Prasa said.

Metrorail and Prasa have over the years warned of the dangers of train surfing with young people risking life and limb in the name of so-called fun. 

“Prasa’s policy clearly states that those riding on the roof of the train are simply breaking the law and will be prosecuted,” Prasa said.

Prasa said these incidents form part of Metrorail’s operational challenges as they contribute to vandalism and in the event of an unfortunate incident, contribute to unscheduled train delays. 

Prasa reiterated its condemnation of acts of vandalism, cable theft and train surfing. - SAnews.gov.za