WhyIHateTheInternet comments on Train hopping only a thing in the US, or Europe too? (A: yes, Europe too but less common.. must dodge A/C power lines)

Train hopping only a thing in the US, or Europe too? (A: yes, Europe too but less common.. must dodge A/C power lines) (www.npr.org)

submitted 7 months ago by activistPnk@slrpnk.net to c/trains@sopuli.xyz

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cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/36305825

Train hopping is still a thing in the US, I suspect because freight trains are slow.

But what about Europe? Even the slow trains are fast. Although I say that only having seen passenger trains. Are there freight trains that are slow enough? What about controls? The article mentions thermal cams being used to spot train hoppers. I might expect Europe’s tendency to push for safety to manifest as rigorous controls.

UPDATE: found this→ https://hitchwiki.org/en/Train_hopping#Europe

cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/36305703

Would like to add this to my lifestyle.

“Working remotely as a software engineer, the 25-year-old spends his free time combing through open source railway data and online forums to determine which trains to take, when they'll slow or stop, where to hide in wait and what type of train car to jump into.”

[–] WhyIHateTheInternet@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago

A friend and I used to do this years ago. We didn't ride for very long usually but we did it initially with the intent to access abandoned buildings/areas we couldn't normally access or would take too long to walk to or have security at the obvious entry points. These trains would go very close by a lot of these areas and it made super simple to just hop off and head to the building. Getting back from the places could be more difficult if we couldn't catch a train back but we always had plans.

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