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Train hopping

141 bytes added, 21:30, 18 May 2019
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=== [[Russia]] and post-Soviet countries ===
Russia is a very good place for train hopping. There is an extensive rail-network with a lot of passenger and freight trains, which have a big amount of handles and footrests. Hopping a trains in many regions of Russia is much more common than in most European contries and has it's own history, in . In recent times it became popular among young people aged 14 to 25 years, who live near railway lines.
[[File:Sapsan backside climb 2.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Climbing on the back side and roof of a high-speed train Sapsan]]
[[File:Freighthop 2.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Riding on a freight train in Moscow]]
Freight hopping is a common phenomenon in many regions of Russia, for example, in very far regions some passenger trains have a special freight flatcar for stowaways, and train conductors allow people to travel on these cars for free. Riding on the outside of freight trains in Russia is not so common like in the United States, but riding on the outside of passenger trains, especially commuter electric multiple units, is much more common than in the USA or Europe. Also, some train hoppers in Russia practice travelling on a high speed trains "Sapsan" at Moscow - St. Petersburg railway line, but it's a difficult to get on these trains during the recent months, because a lot of railway guards at train stations are watching for train hoppers on these trains and can report about them.
In a number of Russian regions with a high number of railway lines, especially Moscow, riding on the outside of trains is so common, that some rail workers and engineers of other trains usually don't report about persons travelling on the outside of trains, and civilians never tries to call the police. The railroad police and guards periodically can be found around big and medium train stations and railway terminals, but if they see a rider on the outside of a moving train and can't arrest him, they usually don't report to the next stations, the two only exceptions are subway trains and high-speed trains "Sapsans". In Russia, only the railroad police can arrest you and it never use road cars, so you can stay calm if you see a car of road or civil police. Finally, train hopping in Russia is much less punishable than in the USA or Europe: the fine for that is only 100 Russian roubles, that approximately equals 3.2 USD or 2.5 Euro, that is one of the reasons why the police do not have much interest for train hoppers. However, it doesn't relate to trainsurfing on metro trains where the fine is about 385 USD. In other post-Soviet countries, hopping a trains is less common, and fines much be are higher - for example, in Ukraine or Belarus the maximum fine approximately equals 33 USD.
Trains un in Russia are not so as fast as European trainsones: the an average speed of freight and train is 45-60 km/h. For the most of passenger trains in Russia it is between 60 and 90 km/h with maximum speed of 110 km/h, but some passenger trains can accelerate to 160 km/h. The only high-speed line in Russia is a Moscow - St.Petersburg railway, where express trains have average speed 190 km/h and maximum speed 250 km/h. The big part of Russian railway railways lines are is electrified. There are two electrification types - 3 kV DC and 25 kV AC. The first type of elictrification is common for railways, where the first electric trains was appeared, including Moscow, St. Petersburg and some other regions; while the second one, which is much more dangerous, where the electrification apperead over the last 50 years. The full map of electrification of Russian railways can be found [http://www.gdevagon.ru/scripts/info/map_old.php here]. Be very careful if you want to ride on the roof under a 25 kV power line, especially if train has current busbars between carriages.
Train hoppers in Russia have a lot of websites and online comminities, and some of them may organise fan trips by commuter electric multiple units or local freight trains. The biggest community of Russian train hoppers is located at [http://vk.com/zaceping a group on social network vk.com], registered users can join their group and get detailed information about different types of trains and railway lines in Russia.
== External Links ==
* [http://briancray.net/tag/train-hopping-101/ Brian Cray's blogBlog] has articles and a guide on train hopping.
* [http://oli.org/ Operation Lifesaver - Rail Safety Education].
* [http://thespoon.com/trainhop/train1b.html How to hop a freight train at thespoon.com]
* [httphttps://squattheplanet.com/ squattheplanetthreads/the-stp-guide-to-train-hopping.com17771/ Squat the Planet] has some forums where you can find infoa guide to train hopping.
* [http://http://northbankfred.com/ http://northbankfred.com] has a lot of useful information about train hopping in the United States.
* [http://lurkmo.re/Электричкинг/Трейнсёрфинг Train surfing at Lurkmore wiki] — basic guides for riding on the outside of train (in Russian), a lot of videos and pictures.

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