Indonesia cracks down on train 'surfers' - again
A South African train surfer dances under the high-voltage wires.
Image by: James Oatway © Sunday Times
Image by: James Oatway © Sunday Times
Indonesia has gone to imaginative extremes to try to stop commuters from riding the roofs of trains - hosing them down with red paint, appealing for help from religious leaders, and threatening them with dogs.
Now they have an intimidating and possibly deadly new tactic: Suspending rows of grapefruit-sized concrete balls above railways a few centimeters above roofs of oncoming trains as they enter or pull out from stations.
The balls presumably will deter freeloaders, but could deliver serious blows to anyone defying the roof-riding ban.
Trains crisscrossing this nation of 240 million are packed with passengers during rush hours, and hundreds climb on the roofs to escape overcrowded carriages.
Others can't afford the price of a ticket or think train surfing -however dangerous - is fun.
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