Teen detained after 400-mile high-speed ‘train surf’

A teenage boy was detained over the weekend after train-surfing some 650 kilometers on the exterior of a high-speed train in Russia, police said on Tuesday.

The 17-year-old arrived in the city of St. Petersburg from Moscow on a service that travels for four hours at speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour (155 mph).

The youth, whose name has not been disclosed, told police that he had been chasing an adrenaline hit and was planning to train-surf back to Moscow. However, he was detained on his arrival in St. Petersburg. A statement said the boy admitted to having practiced the reckless activity for the past three years.

The young man has since been handed over to his parents, who have been charged with breaking parental-responsibility laws. The incident will be investigated, officials said, adding that the “extremely dangerous” method of transport can result in serious accidents.

Train surfing is the illegal act of riding on the outside of a moving train, tram or other forms of rail transport. It poses a risk of death or serious injury, due to people falling off moving trains, to electrocution by the train’s power or to collisions with railway infrastructure.