TRANSPOREG

WORKING TOWARDS A
POLICY POSITION: TRAIN
SURFING, TRAIN SUICIDES,
FARE EVASION AND
RELATED ISSUES

Jabulani Mzaliya
Disclaimer

This is a discussion paper developed for the transport family. It does not have any bearing on the
policy intentions of the Department of Transport or of government but is used as a stimulus to
raise the issues of transportation security.

First published in 2018 by

©2018 Jabulani Mzaliya

ISBN 978-0-620-79708-5

Jabulani Mzaliya
DIRECTOR
TRANSPOREG
PostNet Suite 117
Private Bag X121
Halfway House
1687
Cell: 0829060890
JMzaliya@gmail.com

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without
written permission from the copyright holder.

The Status of the Document

This document does not have any official status within the Department of Transport and
Government.
FOREWORD

The problems of train surfing, train suicides, people thrown off trains and the use of rail
tracks as decoys for murders committed elsewhere which are discussed have dodged the
South African rail environment for some time. There has been no pronounced
Government policy to deal with them.
In the past, the conventional wisdom was that these were matters to be dealt with by
the rail utility. With changing circumstances, particularly the restructuring of the state rail
utility, there is a need for a cogent government policy on these issues.
One of the changed circumstances is the Government’s policy decision to maintain the
rail entities as State-Owned Companies (SOC) assisting the developmental agenda of the
State. So located, Government must develop policies that will govern the SOCs to
perform their mandates.
Even if private sector involvement in rail transportation is envisaged and the intention
of encouraging third-party access to the infrastructure is realized, the need for policy
clarity on the matter of train-surfing and related matters will still be necessary. In either
public or private control, policy pronouncements are necessary to create confidence in our
rail system.
Such a policy should remove all doubts about activities that may harm the huge
investments in the rail system. One such confidence-building mechanism is to develop a
policy against train surfing, train suicides, people thrown off trains and other issues such
as fare avoidance, proper etiquette and improved time scheduling and train routing.
I hope that the policy discussion document will show Government’s commitment to
reducing these unacceptable acts. It has to reassure all our people, including parents,
teachers, security personnel, medical practitioners, train drivers and others, of
Government’s commitment to nip these malpractices in the bud.
I am releasing this document for public comments in the hope that stakeholders, role
players and interested parties will make meaningful contributions that will promote a
safe, reliable and efficient rail transportation system in our country.
ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

ABP Associated British Ports

BBC British Broadcasting Corporation
BRB British Railway Board
CBD Central Business District
CBO Community Based Organization
CBTU Brazilian Urban Trains Company
CCTV Closed Circuit Television
DIRCO Department of International Relations and Cooperation.
DOT Department of Transport
DPE Department of Public Enterprises
EAP Employment Assistance Programme
EXCO Executive Committee
FAQ Frequently Asked Questions
FELA Federal Employees Liability Act
FPB Films and Publications Board
GHG Greenhouse Gas
ICE Intercity Express
IRA Indian Railway Authority
ITS Intelligent Transport Systems
JCPS Justice Crime Prevention and Security
MP Member of Parliament
MRC Medical Research Council
NEPAD New Partnership For Africa’s Development
NGO Non-Governmental Organization
NIMSS National Injury and Mortality Surveillance System
NT National Treasury
PTSD Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
RAF Road Accident Fund
RailAF Rail Accident Fund
RCAG Rail Commuters Action Group
ROI Return On Investment
RSR Rail Safety Regulator
SA South Africa
SABC South African Broadcasting Corporation
SADC Southern African Development Community
SAIRR South African Institute of Race Relations
SAPS South African Police Service
SAR&H South African Railways and Harbours
SARCC South African Rail Commuter Corporation
SATS South African Transport Services
TFR Transnet Freight Rail
SOWETO South Western Townships
TRC Truth and Reconciliation Commission
WDF World Development Forum
TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD..................................................................................................................... ii
ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ........................................................................ iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................ iv
DEFINITIONS ................................................................................................................ vii
1. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................... 2
1.1 What Gives Rise To This Policy Discussion Document ......................... 2
1.2 Issues For Further Policy Development .................................................. 3
1.3 The Four Issues Are Not New .................................................................. 4
1.4 Some Constitutional Considerations. ...................................................... 6
1.5 The Structure of the Document ............................................................... 6
2. THE POLICY HIERARCHY .................................................................................. 7
3. THE TIMING OF THE POLICY INTERVENTION ........................................... 8
4. PRINCIPLES ............................................................................................................ 9
5. STATUS QUO ANALYSIS .................................................................................... 11
6. ATTRIBUTES OF TRAINS .................................................................................. 12
7. APPROACHES ....................................................................................................... 13
7.1 A HISTORICAL APPROACH ............................................................................. 13
7.1.1 Staff-riding............................................................................................... 13
7.1.2 Train surfing............................................................................................ 14
7.1.3 Train Suicides .......................................................................................... 15
7.1.4 Throwing People Off Moving Train...................................................... 15
7.3 A SECURITY APPROACH .......................................................................... 17
7.4 AN OPERATIONAL APPROACH .............................................................. 18
7.5 A SAFETY APPROACH ............................................................................... 19
7.6 A SOCIAL APPROACH................................................................................ 22
7.6.1 The Role Of Parents And Teachers ....................................................... 22
7.6.2 The Role of Train Vendors And Commuters ....................................... 24
7.6.3 The Role of Ticket Inspectors ................................................................ 24
7.6.4 Funerals and Burial Societies ................................................................ 25
7.6.5 Decategorization Of Train Surfing As A Sport .................................... 25
7.6.6 The Role Of Communities ...................................................................... 25
7.6.7 De-culturization of Train Surfing.......................................................... 26
7.6.8 Queuing .................................................................................................... 27
7.6.9 Non-Smoking ........................................................................................... 27
7.6.11 Anti-Social Behaviour............................................................................. 29
7.6.12 Allowing Passengers To Alight Before Others Board ......................... 30
7.7 A PSYCHOANALYTICAL APPROACH ................................................... 30
7.8 AN INDIVIDUALISTIC APPROACH......................................................... 33
7.9 AN EDUCATION AND AWARENESS APPROACH ................................ 33
7.10 A MODAL EFFICIENCY APPROACH ...................................................... 34
7.11 AN INTERNATIONAL APPROACH .......................................................... 35
7.12 A NON-CLASS APPROACH ........................................................................ 36
7.13 A LEGALISTIC APPROACH ...................................................................... 37
7.15 A CONSULTATIVE APPROACH ............................................................... 39
8. ENHANCING VALUE FOR RAIL COMPANIES ............................................. 41
 8.1 Business Development .................................................................................... 41
8.2 Energy Absorption Techniques ..................................................................... 42
8.3 Devolution and Divestiture............................................................................. 42
8.4 Taking Advantage Of Changing Travel Patterns ........................................ 43
9. INDICATORS ......................................................................................................... 43
10. WAY FORWARD AND TIME FRAMES ........................................................... 44
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The resurgence of train surfing has given impetus to the policy proposal. In formulating
these policies, there are additional policy areas also identified, but left for further policy
development at a later date.
The policy hierarchy process is identified, with the Cabinet at the top of the hierarchy,
train surfers and train suicide victims at the bottom and stakeholders in the middle. The
policy document addresses all these levels of the hierarchy.
There are four principles on which the policy is based, namely the precautionary
principle, the burden of proof principle, the principle of rational choice, the principle of
accountability and the principle of ostracization. Each of these principles is discussed and
tailor-made for this discussion document.
Through statistics, we sketch the current status quo, but this statistical background
could be further enhanced by the availability of the latest statistics from rail operators,
particularly the rail utility. We make a policy requirement for these statistics and data to
be released to the public to better inform responses to these problems.
In the approaches that we adopt for the document, we argue that, the policy positions
should be informed by giving a brighter atmosphere to platforms; creating crawl spaces
and other infrastructural interventions for people who fall by mistake; cost recovery
issues; the understanding of the autopsy and psychological profiles of victims; and
dealing with people who are murdered elsewhere and dragged onto the train tracks.
From a technological approach, we make policy proposals about the need to repair
broken windows and doors, posting notices for illegalizing the tampering with doors,
embarking on a single ticketing system and communication to commuters about train
delays. The rail companies are tasked with improving their train scheduling, their train
routing and other efficiency-enhancing strategies.
There is a need to have a security approach that continues to bar weapons from the rail
network, the need to separate between the types of train surfing to deal with each of them
effectively and the grouping of passengers for better protection. All these should be
achieved within the minimum resource base.
The State subsidization of the rail utility cannot last forever. Such subsidization would
be unfair in a competitive environment which involves the private sector relying on
private shareholders.
From external stakeholders, the discussion document calls for the increased roles of
schools, parents, media, insurance businesses and the reduction of the added role of ticket
inspectors while increasing that of the rail police in reversing these accidents.
The document indicates the positive role models and sports personalities to demystify
train surfing as a sport. Communication with these stakeholders is an important
contribution to reversing the trend.
Regarding behavioural patterns, we call for the continuation of the anti-smoking, anti-
gambling, anti-drugs, anti-littering, anti-graffiti campaigns and respect for other
passengers. The rail police reserve the right to arrest or bar people under these influences
or who engage in these activities while on the train.
Indicators considerations for value-adds to the company in business terms and its
attractiveness to its clients have been included. These would help offset rail companies’
operational costs. The document charts a way forward with definite time frames, taking
into consideration how long government processes take.
Finally, the document has appendixed an extra document that will help expedite the
finalization of the policy document. The Draft Bill will need further interrogation by the
Legal Unit of the Department of Transport (DOT).
DEFINITIONS

Unless to the contrary, the words and phrases used in this document shall mean the
following:

“communities” shall mean a group of people made of such parents, but shall include civic
organizations, community-based organizations and other social movements;

“Fare avoidance” shall mean an action whereby passengers use the rail system without
the paying for it or without the proper tickets;

“funerals” shall include all functions related to the deaths of people who train surf
including sermons, night vigils, so-called commemorations, unveilings and others.

“graffiti” shall refer to al illegal scribing on trains and their immediate surrounds.
including painting, writing and scrapping of walls and other infrastructure;

“kwelastaff” shall refer to the colloquial form of staff riding and the early beginnings of
train surfing;

“no liability” shall refer to the right of the state or the railway companies not to be
charged or claimed for the activities performed by train surfers and others;

“parents” shall refer to biological and no biological parents of children so involved in

train surfing and shall include guardians, elderly people not related to the children and
other people of authority in the communities;

“person under train” shall mean all collisions between person and train that refers to
frontal collision and has an everlasting psychological impact on the train driver;

“rail companies” shall mean all operators who use rail tracks including passenger and
freight transportation, both State and privately owned;

“rail infrastructure” shall mean all forms of infrastructure that facilitate the operations of
the rail system and shall include rail tracks, stations, bridges, tunnels, platforms,
turnstiles, ticket sales offices, signalling system and others.

“rail property” shall mean the area beyond the rail tracks and shall include station
buildings and used land that vests in rail companies or that is determined as the safe
distance between the rail system and the communities around it.

“rail tracks” shall mean the steel tracks and also the whole area where trains including
their tilt spaces;

“rail utility” shall mean the rail company that is state-owned and shall refer specifically to
SARCC Metrorail or Shosholoza Meyl or Spoornet and all services that support their
operations;

“Railway Police” shall mean the police who have been trained to patrol stations, to
provide security to passengers and the rail infrastructure and carry out all duties that will
be allocated to them but are separate from the security guards that may be employed for
lesser responsibilities;

“security guards” shall refer to outsourced security personnel that will be employed to
provide backup services to the Railway Police;

“societies” shall refer to all cooperative efforts by members of the community to raise
funds for this or that purpose and shall include forms of stokvels;

“staff riding” shall include all activities of passengers that relate to riding or getting off
the train when it is in motion or has not stopped;

“stakeholder” shall mean all those who have an interest and wish to contribute to the
alleviation of the issues discussed in this paper;

“ticket inspectors” shall mean officials of rail companies who are authorized to sell and
check the validity of train tickets used by commuters;

“train drivers” shall mean competent people who are allowed to operate the locomotion of
the train and shall include assistant train drivers under training;

“train hopping” shall mean an illegal activity where unauthorized people jump on and off
the train (usually the goods train) without paying their fare;

“train suicide” shall mean all forms of self-inflicted murder including lying on the rail
tracks and jumping out of a moving train and throwing oneself in front of a train;

“train surfer” shall mean a person who engages in any of the activities described under
train surfing;

“train surfing” shall mean all forms of external stunts on the train whether they happen on
top of train coaches, through the window and under the carriage; and shall include all the
names given to the stunts mentioned in this discussion document;

“train vendors” shall refer to all those who sell their wares to customers on the train while
it is in motion and off the train when commuters are waiting for the train.
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 What Gives Rise To This Policy Discussion Document

Three gruesome events, one costly to the rail utility and to the Department of Transport
(DOT) as a custodian and shareholder on behalf of the State, have led to the drafting of
this policy position paper. Policy development around rail has been slow. The laxity was
occasioned by the view that a parastatal as huge as Transnet was well-managed.
Even without these three tragic events, the need for a policy position on train surfing,
train suicides, throwing people off the trains, train evasions and other unwelcome
activities on the rail system, has long been outstanding.
The growing trend of train surfing has led to deaths of train surfers. His burial was
celebrated by further “train surfing” which led to another death. Train surfing, not a new
phenomenon but with historical origins in the old gangster days, known then as “staff
riding”, has assumed a thrill outlet for youth who take a high risk to impress others.
When people choose their method of death, masquerading as an extreme sports craze,
the passenger rail companies, together with their regulator, the Rail Safety Regulator
(RSR), have to evolve a policy position because these unwelcome acts take place within
their areas of operations.
It may be a matter of time before there are litigations against rail companies and the
regulator. The amount of resources that the passenger rail companies and the safety
regulator will spend on legal defences will be high. One such legal entanglement was the
one that took place with the Rail Commuters Action Group (RCAG). 1
Secondly, the gruesome “suicide of a woman and her child” who decided to use the
train tracks to meet her destiny2 calls on the government, rail companies and the regulator
to develop some policy position, or at least emphasize in policy what is known.
As the pictures of the suicide get graphically depicted in the media, they do not only
irk our national psyche. They create an opportunity for copycat acts which need to be
addressed through a clear policy by the government and rail companies.
The pictures in the media are traumatic. The trauma that is faced by the drivers and the
accident recovery personnel is unbearable. Rail companies have to take care of the
psychological well-being of their personnel, which is an unintended cost to the company
imposed on it by external elements.
Thirdly, the practice of throwing passengers off moving trains is as unwelcome as the
first two. There is already a litigation matter before the Constitutional Court where a
passenger travelling from Walker Street to Mamelodi in 2011 claims he was thrown from
a train by three men.
The first and most publicised of these “throwings” were during the late 1980s and
early 1990s. When it was clear that the Apartheid State was crumbling, Agents
provocateurs, as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), concluded, were
behind these deaths on trains.3
The second is where commuters, angered by the criminality inside the moving trains,
have taken the law into their hands and threw suspected criminals off the trains.
The third was during the security workers strike when people who were suspected of
breaking the strike were thrown off moving trains.

1
Pretoria News. 09 January 2003.
2
The Sowetan. (Date Unknown)
3
The Truth About The Truth Commission. SAIRR News Release. 26 July 2006.
 In 2003, it was reported that a security guard had thrown a passenger off the train over
a ticket dispute.4
According to the Transnet Freight Rail (TFR), Mike Asefovitz, about 94 people were
run over by trains every year, largely due to the number of informal settlements along the
network. Some dwellings were built a few metres from tracks.5

“The… train has a right of way on the railway lines… and it takes a train approximately 1kn to
come to a complete stop once brakes have been applied.”

Regardless of the reason, the need to reverse and stop this malpractice, or to principally
create the policy position to absolve the government and rail companies from any claims,
becomes even more urgent. In a case lodged by passenger Makgopa, the Pretoria High
Court judge imposed an R6-million claim in favour of the passenger and stated:

“There was a duty of care that (PRASA) owned to the persons, including the plaintiff, who
utilized its trains, and (it) should have ensured that all the doors of the coaches were locked.” 6

The absolution should first be articulated in policy before it is coded into legislation. It
does not mean that the Government or rail companies will always be on the right side of
the law. If the Government and the rail companies do not have some form of policy
pronouncement, the judiciary may always find it difficult to protect them.
Fourthly, train fare evasion is not as gruesome as the first three, but to the extent that it
limits rail companies’ ability to collect enough fares to plough back to the infrastructure
investment and to improve efficiencies, it gains currency. A policy position regarding the
plough back of revenue has to be developed.
To rely on the goodness of commuters and to think that their rationality and morality
will take precedence over this malpractice, is wishful thinking. There is a need to develop
a policy position to reverse the trend and to evolve sanctions across the board is needed.
Those who are involved in the practice can know the risks they place themselves into if
they persist with this malpractice.
When the four issues are discussed, particularly in this policy development document,
they are likely to bring up all sorts of other issues. Some of these issues have tangential
links to the main issues but do not form part of the mandate of this specific assignment.

1.2 Issues For Further Policy Development

The overarching issues and challenges related to trains cover a wider spectrum than the
ones discussed above, but the mandates for this project do not cover them. A few of them
are as follows:
Blatant attacks on passengers on trains from unknown people and against whom
investigations yield no results. A few incidents were reported after 1994, indicating that
they are still on the loose.
In 1991, nine people were shot, stabbed or hacked to death and 36 others were hurt
when violence engulfed two commuter railway stations in Soweto. Some passengers were
hurt when they jumped off a train between the Nancefield and Orlando Stations.7

4
Pretoria News. 12 February 2003.
5
The Sunday Independent. April22 2018.
6
Nkosi, B. Prasa chugging along while train deaths rise, say DA. The Star. April 24 2018.
7
“9 Die In Railroad Violence in Soweto.” New York Times. October 24, 1991.
 These attacks were not properly investigated. The perpetrators have escaped under the
veil of democratic South Africa. No instructive policy position emanated from the sham
investigations carried by Apartheid authorities.
This failure falls outside the scope of the DOT and be located within the Justice Crime
Prevention and Security (JCPS) Cluster. Should there be an instruction to approach it
from the standpoint of transport, enough resources should be allocated by the DOT to
execute such an instruction.
Head-on collisions of trains have not been included as these are related to operational
efficiencies which the railway companies are tasked with improving. Such collisions lead
to delays, which exacerbate commuter anxiety, lead to overcrowding and put added stress
on drivers. Some passengers get injured in train collisions. A policy position of
compensation for these passengers should be articulated.
Suspensions of drivers during official enquiries, such as the three independent
enquiries that were conducted when two trains collided between Wadeville and
Katlehong stations during the rush hour,8 get into the mix to the extent that they reduce
the driver corps, affect shifts and cause delays for freight and passenger rail.
The tracks are shared between the two operations. The arrangement will be left for
further policy development with the cooperation of the RSR. The role of the DOT may
have to be decided at the executive level.
Non-Fatal Accidents such as the sudden jolts of trains and the fingers caught in
windows and doors9 may seem minor in comparison to the four issues raised. The
solutions to them may be found at operational and design levels, such as the eradication
of the slam-door which make train surfing less feasible.10
If the matters become so widespread and affect the well-being of the greatest number
of passengers and commuters, some DOT-driven policy interventions may be required.

1.3 The Four Issues Are Not New

Train surfing has been in existence for some time. It was only in 2006 that the growing
concerns began to surface. In 2002, The Citizen reported that a boy had been killed
playing on top of a roof of a train. While this was reported as the first time a child had
been killed in this fashion, some deaths have occurred through a different type of playing
on a train, such as jumping on and off the moving train.11
One of the ambassadors who was a former train surfer who has now been roped in by
the South African Rail Commuter Corporation (SARCC) Metrorail to talk against train
surfing, has admitted that he started surfing in 2002.12
There are other sources of information which indicate that these issues are not new.
They are not confined to transport but span other pursuits of life, including cultural life.
For brevity demanded by this assignment, the proposal will only deal with these issues
from a literary and artistic perspective:
Popular magazines, such as “Drum” and “Zonk,” carried these stories of the
daredevils. The emotions from forthright citizens disapproved of this, in as much as those

8
Business Day. 21 November 2000.
9
Nixon, J. et. al. 1985. Fatal and Non-Fatal Accidents On The Railways – A Study Of Injuries To
Individuals With Particular Reference To Children And To Non-Fatal Trauma. Accident
Analytical Preview. 1985. Jun: 17 (3) 217-22.
10
Train Surfing in Joburg. Gatago.Com.
11
The Citizen. 14 November 2002.
12
Train Security To Be Intensified Over Festive Season. Bua News 29 November 2006.
fascinated by it, saw the dare-devilish stunts as attractive. Donald Knowler who used to
work for The Star noted.

“It was a test of wits which around 5 pm Soweto kids would gather along the Kliptown railway
tracks to watch the staff riders and seasoned kwelastaff and teenagers climbing in and out of
moving trains.” 13

The late Arthur Maimane, in Hate No More, takes a journey back to Sophia town,

“to the world of shebeen queens, staff riding majitas and mauser-wielding real manne.” So
even in these early days, train surfing was connected to drugs, liquor and gangsters.” 14

Melvin Carpio’s The Web of Darkness cites a passage on train surfing where he states:

“We would often try our hand at train surfing, that is, the act of riding outside the train,
hanging on the back of the last car, holding on to dear life, while the train is in motion.” 15

Mandla Wanyaza’s 1991 etching pastel, Staff riding, is an artistic impression of this
practice. [The piece was last seen in Cape Town’s Iziko museums].
Brazilian Rogeri Resi’s 1995 piece Serfista de Trem (Train Surfers) in gelatin silver
print from the Man.machine: Train Surfers Series.16
The previous rail operators, i.e. pre-1994, have dealt with these issues in the past. New
responses that reflect the democratic changes are long overdue. To craft a policy position
which has not been articulated before, or if it did, it reflected the power of the parastatal
(Transnet) about these issues, is urgent.
More significantly, the power relations between the State and its people, particularly
the African people who commanded the highest numbers of users of the passenger rail
service should be attended to.
The untrammelled power that the parastatal, either in its South African Railways and
Harbours (SAR&H) version, or the South African Transport Services (SATS) version
enjoyed, reflected the status under which it worked. Its policy position was interpreted to
be that of the State.
A clearer division of powers underpins the current mixed economy. There is a liberal
(read equal) access to law and the judiciary. To refocus on the parastatals, the need for a
policy position is greater than the absence of it. The absence of policy and later
legislation either in an Act form or the regulations to the Legal Succession Act of 1989
was equally detrimental.
The paper intends to make policy suggestions and to start a consultation campaign for
Government, stakeholders, interested parties and train commuters for the policy
position(s) suggested.
The intentions of this approach do not undermine the separation between policy
formulation and the operational domains, the former being the area of DOTand the latter
being the core business of rail companies and the regulator (RSR).
The final arbiter in the policy acceptance will be the DOT. Such a policy position
paper is developed with due regard to the overworked and understaffed Department. The
DOT will rely on entities outside it to implement its policy decisions and
recommendations.

13
Tasmanian Times. Out of Darkness (Part 1) (Date)
14
Maimane, A. Hate No More. Kwela Books. 1 July 2000.
15
Carpio, W. 2003. Web Of Darkness. Infinity Publishing.
16
1995-2006 Art in Context: Centre for Communications.
 Since the rail operating companies will be affected by this policy, it is incumbent upon
the policy developers to have a wider consultation. Similarly, this policy will affect
commuters. They should form a big part of the consultation group.

1.4 Some Constitutional Considerations.

Some of the issues that will be discussed will have an impact on the interpretation of the
South African Constitution, incorporating the Bill of Rights and people’s access to it.
The issues raised are worrying to the greatest number of people. The possibility of the
invocation of the constitutional rights cannot be ruled out. Some of the constitutional
issues are the following:
The policy proposal discussed the freedom of choice about the right of people to
entertain themselves. The policy document insists that the issues raised, such as those of
train surfing, should not be seen within the context of sports and entertainment.
A debate may arise as to whether the State should intervene when people find an
innovative way to deal with their anxieties and problems. The State reserves all the rights
to intervene in the protection of its citizens against themselves.
The document discusses freedom of association in relation to the Railway Police’s
powers to separate passengers for better management of security and safety.
If such separation is necessary, it will be informed by the overriding responsibility of
the State to offer the protection and safety and security already discussed.
In train suicides, the legal and constitutional issues of the right to life will be debated.
All citizens have the right to life. Self-inflicted deaths as in a train suicide cannot be a
right delegated to an individual. The State and citizens have the right to intervene to assist
people in distress who use train suicide as a solution to their various life problems.
The freedom of association may be debated when there is a separation of passengers
who usually travel together. Such separation should be based on the greater good and
would fall within the parameters of the State power, to exercise its responsibility.
Freedom of religion through worshipping in trains may be debatable as there are
complaints against it. Railway companies have not interfered with this worshipping. It
should not be tampered with, but if the practice goes beyond the norms understood up to
now, rail companies have to intervene.
In the right of admission to trains as it relates to the powers of the Railway companies
and Police to stop intoxicated people from boarding the train may be debatable. This right
is practised all over the world. The barring of one person from boarding the train in the
interest of many others is an acceptable right by rail companies.
In the right of to education may have to be compromised for the greater safety of the
individual child who has to appear in courts or face some form of sanction, as a result of
train surfing. It is better to miss a day of school than to lose a life.
Obligations of the State and adults to the protection of children (who are involved in train
surfing) has to be taken into consideration. It should be seen as a greater responsibility
than to delegate the responsibility to the individual.
Rail companies in exercising their rights to unhindered trade in a conducive
atmosphere may be challenged largely from an ideological than from the constitutional
point of view. Government policy is to encourage freedom of trade.

1.5 The Structure of the Document

The introduction discusses the urgent need for this policy. There is the identification of
other policy issues which should be pursued independently. The problems which are
addressed in the document are not new but have not had DOT policy to address them.
 The second section confirms the known hierarchical position of policy decision
making and contribution. At the top of the hierarchy is Cabinet and in the middle of the
hierarchy are rail companies, service providers and passengers. At the bottom are the train
surfers and train suicide victims against whom the policy is being developed.
The third section is linked to the urgent need for this policy, but this one focuses on
the timing of this policy, taking into account some issues beyond the horror. The fourth
section deals with the principles which underpin this discussion namely the precautionary
principle, the burden of proof principle linked to it, the principle of rational choice, the
principle of accountability and the principle of ostracization.
The fifth section provides statistics and gravity of train surfing, train suicide and use
of trains as decoys for murders.
The sixth section is linked to the precautionary principle. It alludes to the qualities of
the rail mode and its inevitability in human and cargo movement.
The seventh section is divided into sixteen approaches. These form the crux of the
discussion. Policy positions and statements are motivated in this Chapter.
The eighth section looks at some of the value adds that rail companies should consider
to offset their operational costs and to entice customers to their business
The ninth section identifies targets for the implementation of some of the policy
positions and stretches them from now to 2030, by which time zero results should have
been achieved.
The tenth section suggests a way forward and time frames.
The policy statements have been indicated with bold text. Next to the policy
statement, there is a PS and a number.

2. THE POLICY HIERARCHY

The Cabinet of the Republic of South Africa is the custodian of all policies. It is the
primary guardian of the public and the safety and security and the preservation of the life
of the people who are subjects of this policy.
At the second level of the implementation of this policy will be the DOT. It will be
responsible for the passage of this document to a high level of acceptance by all
stakeholders. DOT must sell it to other government departments, develop guidelines and
regulatory mechanisms that may be needed, see it through the legislative process and
monitor implementation.
At the third level of this policy will be the service providers, such as rail operators
who have to provide this crucial service under the trying conditions discussed in this
paper. The document will include the train drivers who are at the coal face of these
activities and who suffer the second most trauma after the victims.
The role that should be played by the judicial arms of the state will be outlined. There
are not many cases that come before the judicial systems about the problems raised in the
document. The powers of the judicial system to mediate, give it this fourth level.
Parliament occupies the fifth policy level of the hierarchy as the legislative arm of the
country. The level is determined by the powers of legislative bodies to determine whether
the policies discussed in the document are priority enough to be passed into law. The role
of Parliament in playing an oversight role falls within this hierarchical arrangement.
At the sixth level of the hierarchy are service providers who provide other services to
the rail sectors in incidents and accidents of the nature described in this paper. Medical
and autopsy service, the railway technicians and signalling experts, shall be included.
At the seventh level of the hierarchy is construction engineers such as those of
platforms designers, platform construction and bridge builders. Their role is crucial. They
have been placed at this level because if the train users were to obey the prescripts for
railway safety, their role would be reduced.
At the eighth level of the hierarchy will be the academic and the research institutions
who have to analyse the causes and effects of these activities. Social workers,
psychiatrists and psychologists will form this level.
At the ninth level of this policy, the hierarchy will be the parents, teachers and
communities who have limited powers to solve them.
At the tenth level of the hierarchy will be the commuters who witness these
misdemeanours but are so afraid to stop them or there is little that they can do.
At the last level of the policy, the hierarchy will be the culprits identified, such as
trains surfers and those who commit suicide. The policy is directed at them. All the other
levels are placed there to assist this level.

3. THE TIMING OF THE POLICY INTERVENTION

What has been raised are not new issues. They have been witnessed in South Africa and
all over the international rail networks and systems. This policy intervention is in
response to some reasons within the South African context.
South Africa is faced with an old phenomenon. Our failure to react in time during the
first decade of democracy, either through policy interventions and other measures is as a
result of the low the practice went to.
The pressures of developing other policies which were pressing for a democratic state
than to engage in policy development for malpractice which rationale people could have
avoided on their volition.
The timing should be viewed from the following perspectives: (a) reversal; (b)
consolidation; (c) legislative; (d) integration; (e) access; (f) realistic; (g) cost-
effectiveness; (h) cost-effectiveness and marketing.
From a trend reversal perspective, the departure of this policy discussion document is
that this is a negative fashion trend and a very dangerous one.
From a consolidation perspective, the merger of SARCC, Metrorail and later
Shosholoza Meyl, gives rise to a consolidated policy position on many issues. It enhances
integration through policy consolidation.
From a legislative perspective, the instructive legal instruments which cover various
aspects of rail functions and operations, the Legal Succession Act will require periodic
interventions to make it respond to current issues. The Act gives much power to one rail
company. To make it applicable to other users, a policy position that will be spread
beyond one company is now required.
From an access perspective, third party access to the rail system is imminent, if not
desirable. The role of the single company in determining how to deal with these problems
may not be enough. The entry of the other role players will not be smooth. There will be
resistance from the dominant parties in the passenger railway sector.
The policy suggestion is to kick-start policy position which new operators in the rail
system will have to evaluate and adopt. The monopoly status allowed the rail utility
company-driven policies to deal with these issues. Third-party access would require a
Government policy which would apply to all operators equally.
From a realistic perspective, the operational issues can be complied with. The fences
may be erected and the signs posted, the bridges can be constructed, safety gates be
provided and trains fitted with the best hooters. The reality is that despite all these
provisions, these train incident and accidents will always happen.
 From a cost perspective to the company, the recovery of bodies and the delays that
arise as a result of these incidents, policy intervention is long overdue.
Finally, from a communication-marketing-branding-image perspective, the rail system
should be able to attract as many people as possible, but its attractiveness can be
enhanced by it cleaning up some of the misperceptions attached to it.

4. PRINCIPLES
4.1 Precautionary Principle

In rail transportation, the principle argues that even with their dangers, the trains absence
will be detrimental to human development, trade and movement and economic
development if they were removed solely for the prevention of its dangers.
In such a situation, the onus falls on the users and the operators to engage in transport
with caution. The dominating perception is that trains are a necessity as they fill a void
that would be unfilled in their absence. However, they are not enough because they do not
go to destinations when they are needed most.
The risks that people take on trains should be factored when the precautionary
principle is discussed. There is little chance of survival when people choose a train as
their method of suicide. When people have made a decision to be killed, there is honestly
nothing that the train driver or the train itself can do to prevent this.
Preventative measures can be found outside the train mode, in psychological activities
and personal responsibilities. According to one blogger, if trains were not meant to kill in
the case of train suicides, they would have been encased in softer marshmallows to
prevent the deaths.17

4.2 Burden of Proof Principle

Linked to the precautionary principle is the need for those who advocate for the
termination of such a service (the train) to prove that trains are dangerous.
The dangers of the trains are not underestimated. It is principally the reason THAT the
rail tracks are declared as secluded from people. Access to the rail territory is strictly
proscribed. It is an oversight where there is easy access to rail infrastructure for people
other than passengers, it is an oversight.
To that extent, the burden of proof of the dangers of the train is largely minimized.
There is a consensus that in unavoidable accidents, these are par for the course (even
though the pressure to reduce these is paramount).
The other issues such as train suicide, train surfing and fare avoidance are self-
inflicted or caused by human elements, and not the train itself.

4.3 The Principle of Rational Choice

If the rail system improves its operations and evolves a policy that will address the
concerns raised, people’s choice of rail transportation over other modes will increase.
If rail improves its safety standards and offers, the best service people will lead to
trains being their rational choices.
An aggressive campaign must be embarked upon to increase rail as a mode of choice
must be supplemented by aggressive advertisement campaigns. It cannot be denied that

17
Anti-Train Suicide. www.halfbakery.com/idea/Antisuicide_20train
even if the advertising campaigns were perfect, the question of safety would come
naturally to commuters.
It would be prudent for rail companies to be wary of increasing their ad spend to
attract commuters but fail to provide the necessary safety and security guarantees that
they (the passengers) need. This would be money not well spent.

4.4 The Principle Of Accountability

As a service rail transportation owes its users a service that is devoid or at least that
minimizes the issues raised in this paper. The first accountability for a people-based
service is to its customers.
As companies relate to customers, the principle of accountability should underpin by
fairness. All passengers are expected to pay for a service. Fare avoidance is unfairness to
those who pay for the service.
The service is underpinned by corrective measures, which means that if there are
wrong things that happen in the system, there should be serious efforts to correct them.
These should be based on the communication of the proposed solutions. Constant
interaction with rail customers is crucial to the success of this policy.
At the second level, this accountability should be to the shareholders, in the case of the
rail utility, the State and the private shareholders for private third-party entrants.
Through its entities, the State has to be accountable to the citizens. The efficiencies in
the rail utility are essential, as they are the barometers through which the state exercises
its accountability, irrespective of the profitability of the utilities.
For private shareholders, the failure of the companies can cause the migration of
shareholders to businesses with a higher rate of return. This policy document must be able
to link the accountability of the state as a shareholder to its citizens (which is mandatory)
and the private sector as shareholders (which is in the discretion of the shareholders).
The principle of accountability has to be seen in the context of inquiry as well. Against
the set norms, standards and operations procedures, there is a need to check if the rail
system is serving the purpose it set out for itself.

4.4 The Principle of Ostracization

There is no researched literature which pertains to this principle in its philosophical

origins. It is borrowed from the principle of shunning. Communities would allow
members of the public to extend their rights within the community setting, shunning those
who go against the mores of those communities.
The concepts discussed in the document obtain within a culture of democratic
participation, the rights of association and the freedom of movement. Members of the
community are allowed these rights, but once they violate community values, they are
ignored or ostracized by the community.
Train suicide cannot be seen within this principle to the same extent as the train
surfing. The sorrow caused by the fatalities of these nature demands of communities to
come together. Two things should happen:
Firstly, the bereaved family should be comforted by other members of the community.
The glorification of actions which led to such a period of sorrow should be condemned.
This will require the ostracization of the actions rather than the families.
Secondly, those still train surfing should be condemned. It is in this context that the
policy proposal supports their ostracization, or shunning from the community.
The ostracization of those who try to commit suicide and survive requires a more
nuanced understanding of their problems within the social work field. It is not necessary
to ostracize and isolate these categories of people in the context of this principle, but
more help should be provided.
On balance of evidence, the commission of train surfing is more a result of lack of
self-esteem. That of train suicide is an act of desperation.

5. STATUS QUO ANALYSIS

According to the 6th Report of the National Injury Mortality Surveillance System
(NIMSS) 2004, railway death decreased from 147 in 2001 to 106 in 2004.18 The number
of railway deaths has declined, but the deaths presented to the public are as gruesome as
tabloid papers can exploit. The availability of information calls all stakeholders to action.
The figures presented in statistical analysis make a gruesome reading. When
considering underreporting by the rail entities and the police, the situation is even
grimmer. In the study conducted in Cape Town alone, under-reporting by the rail utility
was approximated at 20% for fatalities and at least 24% for non-fatal injuries.19
Lerer and Matzopoulus reviewed a demographic autopsy in Cape Town and found that
between April 1992 and 30 December 2004, in 379 railway deaths, 38 were victims who
fell from a moving train, 32 were suicides, 43 were the result of criminal activities. 38
were due to other causes. Most railway fatalities were between the ages of 25 and 44
years, about half of these occurred at peak commuting times.20
The Minister of Transport quoted the numbers of level-crossing accidents as
unacceptable. So too were the high numbers of people struck by trains on running lines:
582 in 2003/4 and 455 in 2004/5.21
There should be concerted efforts to reverse some of these trends, particularly train
surfing. In the three weeks preceding the month of November 2006, four youngsters had
died,22 and this was not sufficient to deter their colleagues from abandoning this deadly
exercise – as predictable as Russian roulette.23
A service that carries more than 1.6-million people daily is likely to experience some
of the problems highlighted. Accidents and slip-ups are bound to happen. The revised
figures from the SARCC website state that the rail system carries about 2.5-million
passengers daily.
The state railway utility has records of all the statistics of train surfing, but they are for
internal use.24 Holding public information can be unlocked by invoking the relevant
legislation. But this route should be avoided.
The national understanding of the gravity of the problems of train surfing, train suicide
and criminal activities and people thrown off the train should be enhanced. The buy-in of
other stakeholders can only be guaranteed if all have equal access to information.
For policymakers, the idea of hoarding certain information is detrimental to the
process of reversing the trend. Central to the allocation of state resources is the basic

18
A Profile Of Fatal Injuries in South Africa. 6 th Annual report of the National Injury Mortality
Surveillance System. 2004. Medical Research Council of South Africa.
19
Lerer. L. and Matzoupoulos, R. Meeting The Challenge Of Railway Injury in South Africa.
Community Health Research Group. Medical Research Council. Cape Town.
20
Lerer, L.B. and Matzoupoulos, R.G. Fatal Railway Injuries In Cape Town. South Africa.
American Journal Of Medical Pathology 1997. June 18(2).
21
SA Rail System On Track For 2010. South Africa. Info. 11 October 2005.
22
Mangena, I. South African Youths Risk Death On Ultimate Thrill Ride. November 16, 2006.
Yahoo News.
23
Railways Africa. 11 May 2006.
24
www.joburg.org.za
question: How big is the problem? The Charlottedale debacle proved that there is a need
for the communities’ trust towards the rail utility.
There is a general complaint against state companies being evasive about information
to outsiders, including the shareholder (the state) even when the Public Access To
Information Act demands them to provide such information.
This evasion is either deliberate or diffused to serve particular purposes. A state
company may fall into the temptation of offering two sets of information compliance.
A myriad of reporting systems is required of the state entities to National Treasury, to
the shareholder Department to Cabinet, to Parliament. These may require streamlining as
the information is the same, save for the indifference and acceptance of the authorities
receiving these reports.
As SOCs develop into not only state entities, but competitors with private sector
companies, there is pressure on the SOCs to adopt the reporting systems applicable to the
private sector companies. When private companies subscribe to the regulation of private
regulators or are self-regulating, SOCs have to subscribe to a hybrid system.
As a further policy development, shareholding government departments may have to
intervene to compel companies that report to them to provide accurate information to
their shareholders. Failure to do so should be a sanctionable transgression.
The railway companies shall work with the Medical Research Centre (MRC) to
establish an independent and stand-alone railway injury and mortality surveillance
system. (PS 1)

6. ATTRIBUTES OF TRAINS

Transport, particularly rail transportation, is inevitable in our lives. Some of these positive
attributes of the trains and train mode are as follows:
Compared to their motor vehicle counterpart, modern trains conserve energy and have
less emission into the atmosphere. The more trains are used, the more the DOT will
contribute to reversing the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions within the parameters of
the Kyoto Protocol to which South Africa is a signatory.
Trains are cheaper than other modes of transport. They are not faster than other
modes, but there are other efficiencies which should be effected by rail companies to
make trains more attractive to their captive commuters.
The efficiencies of the rail can be improved by an intermodal approach, such as the
single ticketing system. Public transport is unlikely to survive in a zero-sum game where
one mode wants to survive to the total exclusion of others.
The spatial reach of trains is beyond where other high-level modes such as aeroplanes,
go. They form the basis of the connections between the urban and the rural areas.
They can easily connect to the regional network. To the extent that there is a break of
bulk or passengers have to change over as a result of a change of gauge, less time is spent
as compared to other modes.
Rail forms the backbone of important corridors in the transportation system. If
connected to the road systems, trains can be a contributory factor to economic growth.
Rail carries the largest bulk of cargo and passengers in one go than other modes
combined. A passenger train set has a maximum of 12 train coaches, meaning that it is an
equivalent of twelve buses.
Government’s infrastructure investment has made the trains to be at the centre stage of
large-scale movement of people and major freight carrier and distribution. It is incumbent
on the DOT to evolve a policy that will not erode these efficiencies of rail. By doing so,
the State should be able to realize its return on investment (ROI).
 There has been a welcome re-investment in the acquisition of trains by rail companies
as if to emphasize the attributes discussed. Future investments will have to consider the
technologies that are suggested in this policy paper.
There are also issues of security which must be provided for the acquisitioned trains.
With a recapitalization strike that has dogged investment in rail for over a half-century,
the destruction of the new sets of trains by “angry” commuters, require a fair deeper look
than just the “anger of commuters.
There may be elements of other modes, threatened by the revival of the passenger
railway services who would wish to see a dysfunction rail service.
The above attributes have an unintended consequence of “advertising” the train mode
in comparison to other modes. The purpose is to indicate that the more trains are on the
rail system, the more they are likely to be used for train surfing and the issues raised in
this policy discussion document.

7. APPROACHES
Different approaches will be adopted in the development of this policy position. As this
paper is being developed the, it will be suggesting policy positions that should be adopted
to reverse these negative trends.
The document suggests time frames for the start of the implementation of the policy,
with due regard for the consolidation process of the three state rail passenger utilities
which previously vested in the holding company Transnet.
The document will suggest policy positions that will be true for all time so that when
the consolidation is completed, there will be no need for a fundamental revision of policy.
It will make policy recommendations that can be adaptable to the other modes of
transport as they interact with the issues raised (i.e. if they apply to them). It will proclaim
upfront that the document is likely to be of assistance to all modes, to the private and
public sectors.
The approaches that will be adopted are historical, a technological, a security
approach, a safety, asocial, a personal responsibility approach, a psychoanalytical
approach, an education an awareness, an efficiency improvement, an international, a
legalistic and monitoring. Even when some approaches will be emphasized more than
others, they should be seen as a package.

7.1 A HISTORICAL APPROACH

7.1.1 Staff-riding

Train surfing is not a new phenomenon in South African nomenclature. It has been
repackaged as a new craze and as an extreme sport by some. It is seen as a foolish and
dangerous game by others. The emotions for and against it, were then, as they are now,
diverse. Its early version was known as staff-riding or kwela staff.
This practice of train surfing did not die and might have risen and ebbed at certain
times of history, but its resurgence and its characterization as a new sport are misplaced,
as it is still as dangerous as it was.
This meaning was still current in when a secondary school boy at Westbury High
School died after attempting to do what was called “Spiderman staff riding.”25 In essence,
it means riding a train when it is already moving, or alighting when it has not come to a

25
Sowetan. 14 November 2002.
complete stop. Both these actions are not permitted by laws that currently exist. The laws
must be reemphasized.
The dangers presented by this type of illegal behaviour are many folds. The staff
rider may miss the steps and be thrown under the moving train. He may have a bad
landing after jumping off the train which may cause some bone dislocations, a fall or
being forced under a train.
He may miss the end of the platform, the ultimate near the point of re-boarding and
be thrown onto the gravel or ballast stones blow. The door may not open and the staff
rider may have to hang outside the moving train to the next station. The body may be
hurled against the poles on the sides of the rail track, or he may lose his grip and fall.
In the typologies of train surfing, staff riding is the most common stunt. That is where
most train surfers get their basic training.26

7.1.2 Train surfing

Train surfing is a sophistication of this practice, which refers to climbing on the roof of
the train and performing stunts such as narrowly avoiding pylons, overhead poles and
electrical cables or dancing on the roof of a train and limbo-dancing under the bridge.
It is a form of stunting that is so dangerous that it is always a fatal accident waiting to
happen. Train surfing includes getting in and out of the train through the window with the
train is in motion.
The danger represented by riding on top of trains is electrocution by the live wires
which power the locomotion of the train. The dangers of electrocution can be two-fold.
One could be from the coach itself if the surfer is surfing on a locomotive, or it could be
from the cables when the surfer is riding on either the locomotive or the top of the
coaches.27
There is the danger of being hit by bridges or tunnels. The surfer may be thrown off
the train when it negotiates bends. Winds, depending on the speed of the train may also
affect the surfer. Rainy weather conditions make cause slips.
The equally dangerous tendency (the most dangerous, according to surfer Tsepiso
Ntohla)28 is that of riding under the train. The “stylist’s” aim is to be as close as possible
to the wheels, the ballast and sleepers. This “style” is not as prevalent as the riding on top
of the train because of its low level of “spectatorship,” but it is equally deadly.
Dangers can present themselves in the dizziness that is experienced when the
movement of objects below take hold on the undercarriage surfer or the loss of grip which
immediately throws the surfer under the moving train assuring certain death.
A new tendency was displayed when train surfers “commemorated” the death of one
of the train surfers. They ran in front of a train and “dodged” by getting out of its way just
seconds before impact.
This is in the same tradition as the bullfighter would avoid being gored by the bull’s
horn in a bullfighting ring. The train is more dangerous than other modes because it does
not miss and is composed of iron.
In either of its forms of staff riding, trains surfing or using the window as an entry or
exit point to perform stunts when the train is in motion, the dangers posed are equal. The
risks involved and the delay costs to the companies, the agonies to the families should
something go wrong, are the same.

26
Dlamini, N Train Surfing Thrills Bored Youngsters. October 3, 2006.
27
Sternich, I. et.al: “Train Surfers” Analysis Of 23 Cases Of Electric Burns Caused By High
Tension Railway Overhead Cables. August 2000.
28
Dlamini, N. Train Surfing Thrills Bored Youngsters. October 3. 2006.
 The differences among the types will not be elaborated upon. They will be treated as
illegal activities. The phrase “while the train is in motion” gives the impression that
passengers can have access to the roof of the train when it is not in motion. The
restriction should extend to both a train in motion and stopped or parked.
Despite popular belief, the staff rider used the top and the bottom of the train. The
dangers posed by the cross wires on top of the carriage are equal to those posed by the
cement or wooden sleepers, the gravel or the stones of the ballast in the bottom.
Twenty-four years into the democracy, the policy-making period of democracy prize
open issues that fell into the crevices, which, with hindsight, need policy intervention.
While some issues were not evolved into policies with the applicable sanctions
because the state understood that people would be rational enough to make a correct
behavioural choice, reality demands that a policy position, such as the one postulated in
this discussion document, be evolved to protect people from themselves.
Except for authorized technical and maintenance personnel, access to the roof of
the train shall be prohibited. (PS 2). Even when the train is not in motion, entry and
exit through the window shall not be allowed. (PS 3)

7.1.3 Train Suicides

Desperation should not be equated with class and poverty as all classes can become prey
to train suicide. For the principal who was knocked down by a train doing push-ups on
the railway track in 2004 who ignored the horn that was blown by the train driver, train
suicide becomes even acuter.29 It begs the question: What was the reason for the school
principal to choose such a dangerous place when he could have done his push-ups in safer
places?
Train suicides have become the last resort for people in desperate situations. The
choice of a train for suicide is a decision that is arrived at after critical analyses of the best
ways of ensuring death.
While other methods of death are not sure to cause certain death such as overdosing,
the train’s sheer size ensures such brutal death. Those who get injured by a train, or
suicide attempts (which is very rare) carry huge hospitalization costs to themselves if they
can afford it, but to the state if they cannot.
One of these is the suicide which of a mother and her child which was graphically
captured in newspapers.

7.1.4 Throwing People Off Moving Train

Trains are used as a scapegoat to decoy or confuse the police about murders committed
and bodies placed on the rail tracks. Victims are sometimes dragged or transported into
the rail network to create the impression that they had committed suicide.
No perpetrators could be blamed for their deaths, but the victims. Police investigations
into this form of murders should form part of the solution.
In Hawkins in the United States indicated the dilemma faced by police and rail
officials when they deal with train suicides. In this case, the medical examiner ruled that
the cause of their two teenagers’ death was “undetermined”.
Windows were missing or vandalized. Their replacement cost was in the region of
R15-million.30

29
Pretoria News. 13 May 2004.
30
FAQs. www.capemetrorail.co.za
 While this exposes the rail passengers to the natural elements, even more so when the
train is moving, there are inviting openings for people who want to do one of the
malpractices. Most of these train windows are broken by mistakes or succumb to wear
and tear while most of them are stolen. In some stations, there are long ticket queues.
There may be a genuine need for the passenger to board a particular train. This leads
to passengers boarding trains without valid tickets. To avoid ticket examiners, passengers
put themselves in danger by running away from coach to coach.
The relationship between the passengers who pay for their ride and those who fare
avoid is a subject for further exploration. Those who buy tickets and those who ride for
free (fare avoidance) is a relationship that has potential cause for conflict.
Technology and cable theft impinge on rail companies’ executing their efficiency and
punctuality mandates. The delays caused by cable theft have led the train being set alight
by angry commuters.
Cable theft may need to be addressed by wireless technologies, but this will be better
discussed under a different legal approach, such as the one that categorizes the theft of
these cables as equal to sabotage.
The signalling system requires periodic upgrades. If this information is correctly
relayed to passengers, the risk of commuter impatience which could lead to dire
consequences is avoided.31
In 2003, the train control officer was accused of homicide in which four people were
killed. The problems were related to the old and unrehabilitated signalling system.
The delays caused by theft to the signalling systems will require a good
communications strategy, as was the case when the SARCC/Metrorail announced in
February 2003, that there would be delays as a result of the installation of the new
signalling system to the cost of R12-million.32
The DOT has indicated that the single ticketing system is encompassing all transport
modes to ease operations and encourage intermodal integration. The outstanding issues in
the implementation of this innovation are the fair split of fares among the modes used.
The long queues at ticket sales office at stations require being urgently addressed,
particularly as it encourages fare avoidance and is a loss of earnings to rail companies.
Rail companies shall replace all broken windows and institute criminal charges
against people who are caught stealing or removing windows from trains. (PS 15)
Rail companies shall reserve the right of prosecution for people who are found
with equipment belonging to the companies. (P2 16)
Rail companies shall work with the South African Police Services (SAPS) in the
prosecution of criminals who remove technological equipment and cabling. They
shall continue to procure materials, such as fibre optic and remote wireless
variations to render an efficient and uninterrupted service to our customers. (PS 17)
To reduce the possibility of open doors either through manipulation or
maintenance breaches, rail companies shall repair all malfunctioning doors and
improve the door closing mechanisms for all trains over time. (PS 18)
Doors shall remain the only points of entry or exit and windows shall be used
only under the emergency condition and only when passengers are directed to do so
by the emergency or security personnel. (PS 19)
If necessary, rail companies may have to determine that passengers should use
the left side of the door to alight or board the rain. (PS 20)

31
The Citizen. 10 February 2003.
32
The Citizen. 10 February 2005.
 If the problems persist, the rail company may have to allocate some doors as exit
doors and others as entry doors, or certain coaches and entry coaches and other
coaches as exit coaches depending on the circumstances. (PS 21)
In posters on train coaches, rail companies will issue notices which should
indicate that no person shall open a train door while the train is in motion. (PS 22)
It shall be a punishable offence to disable the mechanism that operates the
closing of the train doors or any other safety mechanisms (PS 23)
Rail companies shall work with other companies in other modes of transport to
fast-track the implementation of the ticketing system. (PS 24)
To evolve an efficient single ticketing system for all modes of transportation
which shall be part of the single ticketing system, rail companies will institute a
policy that will make it an offence to alter or deface a ticket. (PS 25)
All companies involved in the single ticketing system shall bar ticket touting and
selling of tickets other than at designated ticket sale points. Rail companies shall
reserve the rights of refusing the use of defaced tickets. (PS 26)
Railway companies shall continue to have the right to confiscate tickets
fraudulently obtained to prevent the widespread malpractice of fake tickets. (PS 27)
Railway companies shall request that commuter remove their tickets from
holders for ticket inspectors to examine them properly. (PS 28)
Rail companies shall incrementally introduce scanning systems that will enhance
the “readability” of tickets to reduce time spent on ticket inspection. (PS 29)
Railway companies shall inform all its stakeholders ahead of time of the delays
caused by the improvements brought into the system to promote commuter safety
and punctuality. (PS 30)
Rail companies shall explore announcements from a central point, such as the
driver, indicating that the train will close its doors in a pre-determined number of
seconds. (PS 31)

7.3 A SECURITY APPROACH

The regulation of which dangerous items should not be carried on trains has been covered
by the regime that exists in the notices at some railway stations. Weaponry, flammable
liquids, corrosive and toxic substances.
This may be extended to include all others that may be determined by the security
personnel. There should be communication between passengers and train users about the
prohibited items.
The category of weapons used for defensive purposes indicates the level to which lack
of security in the rail passenger system informs the reaction of passengers. A system and
security efficiencies which will make the carrying of weaponry and illegal items
unnecessary should be devised. Criminal activities have taken place on the train.
The other commuters are too scared to assist. In South Africa, 682 crimes occur per
100 000 paid commuter trips and that there is a growth in the trend.33
Women in particular and people who travel alone are usually prey to criminals.
Victims are too scared to report these crimes. Fellow passengers do not want to get
involved as witnesses because court cases drag on for months. The witnesses who are
working fear losing employment by always being absent to attend court cases.
The criminal elements train surf to escape being caught for their crime.
One of the train surfers interviewed for a television programme indicated that there are
two types of train surfers, namely those who surf for the thrill, the “cheeseboys,” and

33
Pretoria News. 9 Januarys 2003.
those who surf to escape security guards after snatching handbags and stealing other
passengers’ cellphones - called “mvinqos.”34
The other benign security element which may have the unintended consequence is the
one of “mocking the danger”.
The installation of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) in stations should complement
those being mounted by many municipalities to reduce crime. The intentions of the train
surfers and those who try to commit suicide could be monitored through CCTV. Relevant
information should be sent to officials who can prevent or prosecute offenders.
Increasing the security presence through the deployment of non-company security
personnel that rides on the train system should be considered. These members of the
security or police formations in uniform can increase the security presence.
Passengers are less likely to engage in wrong actions if there a semblance of police or
security presence in the rain, regardless of whether they belong to the companies or not.
The companies should consider a mechanism where they (security personnel) can ride for
free or at reduced fares.
Rail companies shall continue with their posting of notices which display items,
particularly weaponry that should not be carried on trains. They will develop a
prevention regime for people who carry these weapons from entering the station or
boarding the trains. (PS 32)
In its punishment regime, rail companies shall differentiate between crime-
induced and thrill-induced surfing. Rail companies shall refer the crime induced
train-surfing to the relevant security authorities and emphasize rehabilitation to the
thrill-driven train surfers. (PS 33)
Rail companies shall issue a list of offences on the train and determine their
minimum and maximum punishments. (PS34)
Rail companies shall impress on the Railway Police to perform their duties of
stopping crime, but where necessary to group the vulnerable passengers in common
coaches to protect them better and collectively. (PS 35)
Rail companies shall mount CCTVs at vantage points to assist in the
identification of would-be surfers and suicide attempters and integrate these within
the city-wide surveillance systems. (PS 36)
Rail companies shall ensure that when passengers are waiting for their trains,
they will be provided with the best available security. When they have to connect to
other trains or other modes of transport, or their security is under threat, the best
evacuation procedures are afforded to them. (PS 37)
The rail operators shall arrive at a consensus decision as to whether it will be in
their financial and security interests to allow any security or police force member to
ride on the train for free to increase the security presence even by forces not
reporting to, or are not employed by rail companies. (PS 38)

7.4 AN OPERATIONAL APPROACH

There is a dire need for the synergization of the people who operate the value chain of the
rail passenger service. To achieve this, race, transformation, integration and separations
have got to be addressed.
In 2003, an inquiry was compromised because the drivers had certain grievances about
affirmative action and the shifting of the blame for the accidents on the implementation of
affirmative action. No independent source was found to verify the causal link.

34
Dlamini, N. Train Surfing Thrills Bored Youngsters. October 3, 2006.
 The DOT need not pronounce a policy position on this issue, as affirmative action is a
broader government policy. Existing sanctions are adequate to deal with resistance to it.
The railway companies have provided railway bridges at strategic points, but many
rail crossers choose not to use them, such as the 87-year-old Soweto man who was killed
crossing a railway line in Kliptown. According to the police, a legal bridge for
pedestrians to use to cross was not even eight meters away from where the man died.35
Delayed or cancelled trains cause later trains to be overcrowded. Commuters compete
for space on trains that have to “mop up” the late passengers.
Apathy and anxiety as a result of overcrowding will need to be addressed. In addition
to apathy, crowded trains prevent the operations of security officials by moving
passengers impossible. They offer a perfect environment for pickpockets.
One of the train surfers interviewed by a television station stated overcrowding as the
main reason for them to choose that particular train, No 9323 for surfing. In the movie,
Tsotsi, the scene of the robbing of a senior citizen, his murder and the absence of help
from the other passengers, served as a grim reminder of the realities of the dangers and
opportunities that can be taken by criminals in crowded trains.
Rail companies shall continue to strengthen their efforts to reverse the rate of
accidents by promoting the use of bridges. New infrastructure investment in rail
shall integrate the crossing bridges across as many rail tracks as possible, more
importantly, if the track cuts through residential areas. (PS 39)
Rail companies shall reduce the number of vendors and beggars on railway
bridges to facilitate the smooth movement of commuters from one station platform
to another, from one part of the residential area to another, and from one mode of
transportation to another. (PS 40)
In stations where bridges are available and where necessary, rail companies shall
erect fences between railway tracks to force train commuters to use bridges
provided. (PS 41)
Rail companies shall reduce the number of last-minute platform changes36 which
force many commuters to cross and not use the provided bridges. (PS 42)

7.5 A SAFETY APPROACH

Most of the safety issues in rail are delegated to the RSR. The regulator deals largely with
the technical standards, the issues raised here deal mainly with the non-technical issues.
The two approaches complement each other.
The use of public transport as an alternative to driving a motor vehicle under the
influence of alcohol is a well-marketed accident preventative measure by the DOT. The
positive results of such advice are undoubted, but a further warning should be issued for
passengers who choose rail as an alternative. Passengers under the influence of liquor can
pose an equal danger to themselves and other rail passengers.
When intoxicated passengers board the train, interact with the rail infrastructure
dangerously and interfering with other passengers to the passenger, to the train, to the rail
infrastructure and to other passengers, alarms must be raised.
Alcohol and drugs play a role in the encouraging people to be involved in acts of train
surfing. Of the train surfers interviewed for the Special Assignment, most of them
indicated that they had taken alcohol before they surf.
In England, the death of one train surfer in East Sussex indicated that he had been
drinking heavily on Guy Fawkes Day and had taken cannabis.”37

35
The Citizen. 18 September 2004.
36
Bajoria, J. Death On Bombay’s Lifeline. BBC News. 4 March 2004.
 There is a general acceptance that railway property and rail tracks are specifically
designed for trains. The law limits access to these by ordinary citizens. Trespassing onto
the rail property and infrastructure is taken as known.
There will always be people who will trespass on the railway property, play on the rail
tracks, take shortcuts using rail tunnels, cycle and even “play” cars on the rail tracks they
think are underutilized.
The transgressors’ knowledge of the train timetables drives them. Some fishermen use
railway bridges as vantage points for throwing their lines on the river below. When
fishing from a railway bridge, the moment of biting on the line may dissuade the angler
from hearing the train coming.
Some athletes jog on rail tracks as the sleeper-spacings provide a perfect rhythmic
timing for running.
Knowing the timetable may be deceptive as there are many users of the rail tracks out
of schedules, such as maintenance machines and unscheduled freight trains or delayed
passenger trains may use the track.
The dangers of these practices are well-known, but the people playing or training on
rail tracks rely on their auditory powers to hear the training coming from afar and take the
necessary avoidance steps. This is not always successful. Accidents will still happen.
In its warnings on safety, the University of Loyola Health System has identified the
many issues related to the improvements of trains:
The trains are getting less noisy, as some are now relying on electrical power.
Environmental concerns (noise pollution). Concerns about noise pollution worry train
engineers. When they try to reduce the trains’ noise levels, they invite unintended
problems of noiseless trains, with noise being one of the warnings of approaching trains.
To rely on the fact that a train driver can see you is wrong. The policy should drill the
facts that railway tracks are dangerous. Trains are not fitted with the technologies of
braking instantaneously to avoid dangers. The impact of the train on a car is pushing it for
about 100-metres before it stops.38
The construction of the train is such that even if the danger can be detected, bringing
the train to a stop, or swerve, as quickly as the motor vehicle will always be a challenge.
In the case of suicide between East London and King William’s Town, the train driver
had been radioed of a suspicious person on the rail. As he was already putting on is break
when the man continued to put his head on the railway track.39
In one incident, a driver was told that someone had been trapped on top of the train,
but he proceeded to the next station only when he heard people screaming that there was
a train surfer trapped on top of the train.40
The train takes longer to stop than other modes of transport. Even when brakes have
been fully applied, the train rarely avoids an object in front of it. Those who choose the
rail track for suicide consider this particular point.
If using a noisy object in the railway tracks, such as playing cars and motorcycles, it is
difficult to hear oncoming trains.
Walking in tunnels have their limitations of space when trains come. Railway tunnels
are dark and can impair vision for those walking in them.
Hopping off moving trains can result in death or injuries because of the train speeds.
Even when the train is moving slowly, it is still dangerous to hop off it.

37
Teenager Dies In Train Surfing. BBC News. 8 May 2003.
38
Pretoria News. 26 October 2004.
39
Daily Sun. 24 November 2006.
40
Sowetan. 14 November 2002.
 Boarding stationary trains or goods carriages is dangerous because the train may move
at any time. “Hopping off” presents the danger mentioned above.
Throwing things at trains can injure people inside, but can ricochet back to the
throwers and others with added momentum;
There are cases of emergencies where people have got to cross train tracks where level
crossings for cars have no bridges provided. People who cross rail tracks may not
understand which direction the stationary train will start moving because there is a
combination of push or pull locomotive being used.
In cases where people, including those who are authorized to be on the rail track, have
to cross rail tracks, they should ascertain which direction the train is likely to move and to
calculate their crossing time to avoid the dangers involved when the train moves.
Crossing open railway track may not be the end of the challenge, as a second train
may be coming from the opposite direction, crossers should be wary of the second trains
that may come from the opposite direction.41
Caltrain offers a similar warning to commuters, offering safety precautions on the
train, at the station, near the tracks, onboarding and offboarding the train. 42
Neighbourhoods and settlements located near railway tracks pose a danger to the train
operations. Nene noted that about 100 shacks have sprung up next to tracks, some within
a few metres of the main line between Durban and Johannesburg. Residents said about 20
trains pass there every day.43
Children throw obstacles at the train, put impediments on the tracks over and above
posing a danger to themselves by playing on or near the railway tracks. In India, a man
threw acid at passengers in a moving train.44
In a train incident in Sabie, Nelspruit, more than 500-litres of acid were spilt into a
plantation during the accident. The plantation could have been a suburb. In Boksburg, a
three-year-old was killed in a railway smash.
The father of the child crosses the railway track every day on his way to his home
which is situated about 8-metres from the tracks.45
In 2002, the Alberton Station informal settlement, located on Intersite property
comprising 470 families, was scheduled to be moved to Thinasonke Extension 3, which
was owned by the Alberton council.46
Strong action and the powers of rail companies is displayed in this removal of the
people “without further notice.”47 Differentiation between the evictions necessitated by
the considerations of safety and those premised on spatial and racially based relocations
should be made.
The other salient danger represented by the proximity of the residential areas to the
train such as noise pollution are environmental threats of the trains carrying dangerous
goods. The unplanned informal settlements exacerbate sleepless nights due to train noise.
No playground and public spaces are provided for children.
This results in children occupying any open space, including railway tracks, as a
playground. If children can play in the streets, they can also play on the railway tracks.
Either space serves the purpose of a playground regardless of the dangers involved.

41
Break Point. V3.6 June 2000. Loyola University Health System.
42
Rail Safety Is For Everyone. Caltrain @ www. Caltrain.com.caltrain_safety.html
43
Nene, N. Train death toll in settlements goes off the rail. The Sunday Independent. April 22 2018.
44
BBC News 4. March 2004.
45
City Press. 15 December 2002.
46
The Citizen. 14 November 2002.
47
Ibid.
 In well-planned residential zoning, train drivers will always face challenges of a
changing landscape. While care is taken to locate rail tracks in open fields avoiding
neighbourhoods and residential areas, two issues become a challenge to drivers.
Firstly, the landscape is changing faster than the rail system. The challenge to respond
to these changing landscapes will always pose a challenge to the train drivers.
Secondly, trains serve populations in urban and concentrated areas. They have to be
careful of all the intrusions into the railway space.
An association of rail operators shall sponsor a help-line where suicide-prone
citizens can phone through for advice on their problems that may drive them to the
railway tracks. There shall be the maximum promotion of the usage of the hotline
where people who spotted on the railway tracks, with suicide intentions or not, shall
be reported. (PS 43)
Rail companies shall empower turnstile controllers, ticket collectors and the
Railway Police to bar train passengers who are likely to cause harm to themselves,
other passengers and to the rail infrastructure. (44)
The restraining of the passengers will be reviewed if they are travelling with
sober passengers. The railway companies may have to detain a passenger to “cool
off” and take the next train. (PS 45)
Rail companies shall prohibit the drinking of alcohol, or the use of drugs on the
train shall be prohibited and punishable by law. (PS 46)
In trains where bar facilities are provided, the drinking of alcohol shall be
allowed, but the railway companies shall have the right to restrain passengers who
cause discomfort to other as a result of the use of these facilities. (PS 47)
Train vendors shall not be allowed to trade in alcohol on and off the train within
the station precinct. (PS 48)
Rail companies shall work with zoning and planning authorities to determine the
required distance between the rail tracks and the residential areas. They shall
continue with education an awareness campaigns of the dangers of children playing
on or near the railway tracks. (PS 49)
Rail companies shall work in close relationship with the Department of Land
Affairs to be absolved from the provisions of legislation that prevent evictions of
settlements near the railway tracks. (PS 50)

7.6 A SOCIAL APPROACH

7.6.1 The Role Of Parents And Teachers

The pressures of the modern world cause parents and their children to be detached from
each other. Where children train surf, their parents are not aware. Train-surfing is
performed in front of onlookers who are more likely to persuade them to continue than to
scold them.
Because children come from a home, the role of parents in persuading their children
from not getting involved in these activities should be enhanced. The role of parents is
even more pronounced because even if the culprits of train surfing are caught, they are
released to the care of their parents as underaged offenders.48 Parents supersede the role
that can be played by legal avenues.

48
Sindane, L. Councilors’ Train Ride Raises Problems. www.
lenzifo.org.za.localnews/councillors_train_ride.htm.
 The Brazilian example indicates that even when the legal routes were to be followed,
it would be expensive for the rail entities to take the case to court than the fines ($2) that
will be imposed if the train surfer is found to be in the wrong.49
On the negative side, parents can play a big role in the push factors that are causing
their children to do surfing or train suicide. Allen noted that “their parents may reject
adolescents and feel so worthless that they want train surf. 50
There is a loss of locus as to who, between parents and schools (teachers), should lead
the fight against this emerging trend of train surfing. Parents want the schools to play a
role. The schools want the parents to take a leading role. Parents have equal
responsibility. The stems from the fact that parents have lesser time with their children
than teachers but have more authority than teachers.
The blame shifting to schools or from schools to parents is unfair. To blame teachers
for failing to turn the tide against train surfing (and a host of other issues) is traditional
and unfair because the core functions of the teachers are limited to teaching.
One parent of a child who died from train surfing, argued: “The school failed me.
They fail us as parents. We take kids to school knowing that they are safe under their
supervision, saying

“We don’t know what they do during the day at school, and if they misbehave, we need to be
informed as parents. Their responsibility is not to teach only but teach and guide the kids. I am
disappointed.”51

Some of the students surf during the time that they are truant from school. The greater
benefit to the nation would be for teachers to be in class to teach the critical mass of
students than to follow up on those who are truant.
While there are curricular openings for teaching subjects such as life-orientation, the
schools are limited to providing opportunities at an assembly at least for railway officials
and social workers against talk at these practices. This process is underway.
To expect that teachers can always successfully prevail upon students on issues that
happen outside school is unrealistic. Better methods than relying on one persuasive
source to turn the tide will be evolved in cooperation with community members.
The role of parents should be enhanced. The finger pointing from teacher to parents
should consider the modern parenting regime that forces parents to be removed from the
traditional role that parents played.
Parents should graduate from the misconception that teachers can provide all forms of
services, security, safety teaching, social work, psychological and others and they should
resume their roles as parents. Teachers can do so much. Children are responsible for not
engaging in such activities.
Rail companies shall work with teacher, parent and student organizations to
educate students on the dangers of train surfing and to discuss with their parents,
teachers and social workers about the problems they face in their daily lives. (PS 50)
The efforts that have been started by some rail companies to educate youngsters
against the malpractices will continue and shall be modified from time to time to
respond to new and unforeseen challenges. (PS 51)
Rail companies shall encourage elderly commuters to persuade youngsters from
involving in dangerous activities on board the train. (PS 52)

49
Ain’t No Way To Go. Icarus.
50
Allen. F. 1998. Health Psychology: Theory and Practice. Allen and Unwin.
51
Isaac Mangena, Agence France Presse. Nov. 16, 2006
 Rail companies shall liaise with train vendors about the role that the latter could
play in promoting the anti-surfing policy and how to maximize their business
expansion within the rail system. (PS 53)
Rail companies shall work with education authorities, teacher organizations,
community-based organizations (CBOs), Non-Government Organizations (NGOs),
Schools Governing Bodies (SGBs) organized labour, student organizations and
security and police structures to assist in psychological counselling of students and
to advocate against train surfing and train suicide. (PS 54)

7.6.2 The Role of Train Vendors And Commuters

Conspicuous by the service that they provide, people who conduct business on trains
provide a perfect source and resource for the rehabilitation and the correction of the
wrongs that take place on the train.
For them, the need for a safe train and obliging passengers present a business
opportunity that makes them ideal partners against the limitations of the operations of
trains. If trains lose their passengers, train vendors lose their customers.
Passengers on a train become individualized citizens who do not involve in the affairs
of other passengers. Elderly passengers should be persuaded to persuade younger
passengers from train surfing.
While most passengers can have abuse hurled at them by the disrespecting youths,
because they “are not their parents,” the impression that culprit youths would listen to
their parents can only be weighed against the role that needs to be played by parents.
Listening to the advice of all elderly people can be achieved within the broader
reclaiming of a culture of respect. The mere fact that one is elderly cannot be a persuasive
tool in the current loss of respect for the elderly.

7.6.3 The Role of Ticket Inspectors

Ticket examiners have tried to play their role in preventing this practice, but they too
complain that they are not winning the battle because train surfers are stubborn and
unapproachable. One ticket inspector commented:

“You can’t talk to these children. They swear at us and tell us where to get off.” 52

Security guards and the railway police should perform such work. The risks that the ticket
inspectors take outside their core function is a cause for concern. It has labour relations
consequences for the railway companies.
The labour laws of South Africa would prevent the performance of duties without
commensurate payment. Performance of work out of contract does not guarantee the
performer any protection. In an injury on duty, employers cite the absence of the job
performed on the employment contract documents.
Even if seen from the operational perspective, it does not help railway companies to
double task their employees. The failure by ticket inspectors to collect the necessary
ticket fares is destructive to the companies. Neither does the involvement of ticket
inspectors in security-related work provide the required security. They need security.
Rail companies shall evolve an operational strategy which encompasses the
separation of duties to ensure that the ticket examiners concentrate on their core
function and “constabulary” roles will be relinquished to the railway police. (PS 55).

52
Sowetan. 14 November 2002.
7.6.4 Funerals and Burial Societies

Communities and the railway authorities should use the funerals of victims of train
surfing to turn the tide around. Bizarre as it seems, the funerals should be clearer
examples of how sorrowful the end game of these stunting exercises. The heroic status of
victims should be discouraged. The fake heroism of victims should be discouraged at
funerals.
A surfer boasts that if he dies, his mother will bury him as she is on a funeral plan.53
Another boasted that he knew he could fall, but he can always phone his mother to take
him to hospital.”54
These issues bring to the fore the need for a debate around the “Rail Accident Fund”
(RailAF) in the same model as the Road Accident Fund (RAF). The suggestion will
require further engagement with all stakeholders. The conditions of an accident between
road and rail are diverse which calls for the re-configuration of the Road Accident Fund
to suit rail needs.
This opportunity will be clearer with the revamped RAF underway. The arguments of
the RailAF should bear in mind the causes of the problems experienced by RAF
Rail companies shall reserve their rights against train accidents claims, including
claims from insurances and burial societies. (PS 56)
Railway companies shall work with the relevant authorities in debating the
merits or the demerits of the “Rail Accident Fund.” Should the debate lend itself
towards such a Fund, the Department of Transport shall immediately begin to seek
Cabinet approval for its establishment. (PS 57)

7.6.5 Decategorization Of Train Surfing As A Sport

There is confusion between those who support this illegal activity and those who oppose
it as to whether it is a form of extreme sport that achieving the thrill dividend such as
bungee jumping.
All efforts should be made to categorize this as a non-sport. Marketing and persuasive
methods in advertising and communication should categorize it as a dangerous and
suicidal.
Sports authorities disown it as a form of sport. The exponents of extreme sports, such
as bungee jumpers and others, should indicate that their extreme forms of sports do not
pose dangers of death as the one posed by train surfing.
In their communication strategies, rail companies shall discourage train surfing
as a sport and to encourage its view as a dangerous activity which can lead to people
losing their lives and an illegal activity which leads to prosecution. (PS 58)

7.6.6 The Role Of Communities

Communities run out of role models. They should refocus on real heroes and role models
such as those in sports, celebrities and entertainers.
The inventiveness and the warped model formation can have adverse effects. Instead
of persuading train surfers away, it may draw them into it. One of the stunts in the train

53
Dicing With Death On SA Trains. BBC News. 27 June 2006.
54
BBC News. 27 June 2006.
surfing on top of the train is referred to as the viva la rasa, standing on top of a train
coach and shaking shoulders like the late Eddie Guerrero of the wrestling fame.55
There is the “Begos” style which is dangerous because the rider faces backwards and
only rely on his calculation when to duck to avoid the electric cables.56
Paradoxically, train surfing grows because there are not enough role models. The few
role models who are there cannot cover all children to look up to them.
The space is used by the train surfers to create themselves as perverse role models if
their fancy nicknames, such as “Bitch Nigga” (real name Prince Shiba) “Bin Laden,”
“Mrider” and “Sisqo,” “Gatsheni” (real name Lefa Mzimela) in the tradition of “Train
Rider”, are anything to go by.57
In Out Of Darkness, where Knowler gives an account of his memories on South
African nationhood, the role of the community encouraging such behaviour as train
surfing is clear. He identified the danger involved:

“They [Soweto] kids gathered to see the dance of the staff riders which, for the kids of Soweto
was the greatest show on earth… All the time the riders fixed their eyes on looming cross wires
carrying 3000-volts of electricity and, as they jumped, their eyes darted to the next wire strand.
First time out a rider could die – electrocuted or swept under the wheels of the train, but the
show always went, every Friday, every payday.”58

From the dangers of the above account, train surfers should be ostracized from their
communities. They should be stripped off of their hero status and role models. This is a
community effort that will need the participation of all parents of all children.
If the ostracization has to be taken to the next level, particularly when parents of train
surfers do not co-operate, non-attendance of funerals of victims could be harsh and
maybe go against the grain of the community support that exists.
Some “shock tactics” to re-orientate the communities against these practices are
needed if the normal persuasive methods do not work. Amputees have used one such
shock tactic from vehicle accidents who display their handicapped bodies as a result of
vehicle accidents to persuade others to be careful on the roads.
It will be a sight that may shock the weak, but the display of the survivors of train
suicides, of train surfers will shock the nation to the realities of train surfing.

7.6.7 De-culturization of Train Surfing

In line with the above suggestions on community activism, the phenomenon of train
surfing should be “deculturized.” In most writings and analyses, it is categorized as a
Soweto phenomenon and thereby giving it the status of being a “location culture.”
There is a noble pursuit of placing townships at the top of the cultural pile. The
contestations of being at the top of the pile between suburb lifestyles and township ones,
some limits are overstretched. The phenomenon of train surfing is one of these.
There should be strong community efforts, from the townships that indicate that this
idea of thrill-seeking, such as train surfing, is not township culture. The need for this is
even more urgent as the knock-on effect on other townships in the country of Soweto (or
Johannesburg) origins, is huge.

55
Dlamini, N. Train Surfing Thrills Bored Youngsters. October 3, 2006.
56
SABC Special Assignment: Soweto Surfing.
57
Dlamini, N. Train Surfing Thrills Bored Youngsters. October 3, 2006.
58
Knowler, D. Out Of Darkness (Part 1) Tasmanian Times.
 The policy seeks to address the issue beyond Soweto to include the whole railway
network. The railway system in South African currently comprises 6000-km of general
freight and long-distance passenger rail.
There is about 12000-km of the secondary arterial rail network. The Sishen-Saldanha
ore line stretches for 861 km. The Richards Bay Coal line extends to 580km. Suburban
rail is 2500-km long.59 The policy should be configured address the whole of the network
and be able to accommodate the others in the pipeline in the Waterberg area.
Train surfing has been glorified in movies. On television, train surfing stunts find their
common and side names. The reality of the movies as make-believe and manipulated
moving images has not been explained to some teenagers.
The heroes that they watch on television and cinema do not perform those stunts, as
these are reserved for stuntmen and that sometimes the actions on the movies are optical
delusions rather than reality. In the Westbury incident, a student died because he wanted
to perform a Spiderman movie, taken from the movie of the same name.60
One train surfer is known as Bitch Nigga (real name Prince Shiba) claims he was
persuaded by the music of artist 50 Cents and Tupac Shakur to name himself Bitch
Niga.61
Deculturization of train surfing should target movies. The Film and Publications
Board (FPB) and television stations should be brought into playing a persuasive role in
train surfing.
Some of these dangerous stunts are available on video on the internet. More young
people are introduced to the internet, such as YouTube. The more the images are freely
available, the harder the task will be for those who are fighting against the proliferation of
the dangerous stunts.
It will be even more difficult for the policy approach that advocates self-control and
restraint to win. Self-control cannot be legislated. With youngsters emphasizing the
exercise of their freedoms enshrined in the Constitution, the tendency is to see these
freedoms as exercisable outside the realm of responsibility.
Advocates of the exercise of freedoms accept that once citizens are allowed to pose
dangers to themselves and self-mutilate, those freedoms should be restricted.

7.6.8 Queuing

Train users have to queue at points of tickets sales and through turnstiles. Passengers are
required to follow the instructions of the security personnel as such queues may be in the
interest of safety and orderly regulation of passenger movement.
Security personnel shall be given powers to prohibit passengers from movement
in certain operational areas. All access points shall be opened by and in the presence
of a security official employed by rail companies. (PS 59)

7.6.9 Non-Smoking

The anti-smoking regime in South Africa is strong. Within the airports in South Africa,
no smoking is allowed. The non-application of the regime across all modes of transport
has to be reviewed as it has caused serious conflicts between and among passengers.

59
South Africa Survey 2017. Institute For Race Relations.
60
Sowetan. 14 November 2002.
61
SABC Special Assignment Programme. See also The Sydney Morning Herald. November 21,
2006.
 There will be smokers and non-smokers in a train coach. The prospects for conflicts
are higher over smoking. The conflict gets added meaning if the smokers go beyond
smoking cigarettes and engage in drugs such as marijuana. The first may be socially
unacceptable in a public space. The second is socially unacceptable and illegal.
Conflicts are further exacerbated when smokers are young children, who, asserting
their freedom from their parental control, do not take advice from elderly passengers.
In India, a 24-year old passenger was thrown off the train after he had asked three
other passengers to stop smoking as it was inconveniencing other passengers. They
responded by throwing him off the train.62 He survived the incident, but he suffered
serious injuries.
For the train journey duration as opposed to air flight duration, rail companies should
evolve a system which will take into consideration that some of their passengers do
smoke, but not be oblivious to the health regimes that cover such train facilities as shared
restaurant coaches and shared sleeping facilities.
Railway companies shall consider assigning certain train coaches as non-smoking
coaches. The companies will persuade train vendors not to sell cigarettes to non-
smoking coaches. (PS 60)
Rail companies shall engage with health authorities to declare stations as public
places. They shall study the no smoking regime that applies to the inside of the
airports and in aeroplanes, with due consideration to the fact that a train ride may
take longer than a flight. (PS 61)
Rail companies shall post non-smoking announcements in train ablution facilities
where most social smokers are likely to smoke. Railway companies may consider the
reduction of costs of posting adverts in trains if these posters and adverts will have a
long-term benefit to the health of the nation. (PS 62)
Rail companies shall empower the Railway Police to extend their powers of arrest
to include arresting passengers for smoking and taking drugs and using banned
substances on a train. (PS 63)
As part of their social responsibility programmes, rail companies shall promote
non-smoking campaigns and support anti-tobacco organizations particularly to
discourage smoking among children passengers. (PS 64)

7.6.10 Gambling On The Train

Gambling in trains and train stations is a cause for potential conflict. There is a thin line
between an innocent game of cards and gambling. The railway authorities, have e to
consider gambling with care and tact. Some card games do not involve financial
transactions. Others such as “casino” and “craze 8” may be played by passengers to pass
away time.
Trains are made for passengers. Where gambling robs passengers of their rightful
space, it shall give way to passengers. If trains are not full, it makes sense to not to
interfere with the card game.
Rail companies shall not allow the soliciting of bets on the train such as those
under the regime of “fafee” bets, dice gambling and the train shall not be used as
payment points for this type of gambling. (PS 65)
The railway companies shall prohibit gambling on the train, but encourage the
playing of games that increase the social interaction among passengers if they do not
impinge on the freedom and rights of other passengers. (PS 66)

62
Ban Damage: Anti Smoker Thrown Off Moving Train. June 31, 2005. www.
Smokersclubinc.com
7.6.11 Anti-Social Behaviour

All other forms of unacceptable social behaviour, such as abusive language and verbal
abuse, loudness, spitting inside a train, dropping litter, drawing graffiti and other social
misdemeanours may cause tensions between and among passengers.
As it relates to graffiti, the defacing regulations should apply, as this has a direct
impact on the companies’ rolling stock, their asset and their aesthetic value.
Apart from the destroyed aesthetic value, Graffiti is criminal damage, dangerous to the
environment, reflect the notion that vandals are in control and are at cost to the railway
companies (cleaning and repainting costs).
In South Africa, the graffiti wars are exacerbated by their connection to the rap and
hip-hop culture and the competition between rival groups, notably the WOTs and the
TVA, called crew for “space” to locate their “pieces.”63
It is moot to debate whether graffiti is an art form on not. The overriding factor is that
it destroys the aesthetic value of the trains, is costly to clean up, does not help to restore
the dignity of the people involved in it and is followed by bad language which falls under
the anti-social behaviour. It should be seen as “visual pollution” by the population.64
To discourage graffiti, the Hungarian railway carrier was innovative. They have given
over 100-freight train wagons to paint with graffiti, on the gentlemen’s understanding that
artists will not put graffiti on the passenger railway service.65
The same approach has been adopted by the Los Angeles Santa Monica albeit under
different circumstances, where they allow graffiti artists a space in which to practice their
art, on the understanding that other spaces would not be vandalized.
There is strict security provided for the parked train. Either way, graffiti will continue
to exist, or the prevention of this art form in trains will drive it somewhere else.
Other activities take place in the rail service which, though not offensive, can invite
some issues of legal interpretation if there are complaints against it.
Groping, or frottage and fondling in the train is unacceptable behaviour because the
train is a public place. If the act is beyond the fondling of consenting partners and
becomes pinching, intentional rubbing of rubbing of legs or any part of the body, it
should be categorized a sexual offence. 66 Care should be taken as to whether this happens
intentionally or is caused by the overcrowding of trains.
To solve this problem in Japan, women only coaches have been assigned as the peak
period where Japanese trains can be up to 160% full and provide an open season for the
groping of women by man who claims lack of space.67
In 2002, the Minister of Education made similar calls and urged his transport
counterpart to do all he could to protect women against sexual violence in trains.68
Despicable as it is, the British Transport Police reported a case of a man who had been
defecating in trains across the south-east of England, causing damage to the value of
£60 000-pounds to clean.69
This is unwelcome behaviour. Because this activity is not done in front of other
passengers, CCTV surveillance could be the helpful technology to catch culprits.

63
E TV Programme. “Overspray.” 5 January 2007.
64
Ibid.
65
www.iol.co.za 04 August 2003
66
What Is Sexual Assault? Rights of Women. March 2006
67
Christian Science Monitor. June 27, 2003.
68
BB News. 2 July 2002.
69
BBC News. 23 October 2006.
 Anti-social behaviour has gripped the imaginations of the United Kingdom. There is a
debate as to whether there should be funds allocated to solving this problem. 70
Unwelcome as these acts are, there is a need some form of addressing in cooperation
between communities, parents and governments.
As it relates to loudness, spitting, foul language, the railway companies shall
appeal to passengers through posters in coaches or at all railway stations to desist
from such activities, because they irritate other passengers. (PS 67)
On playing that disturbs other passengers’ comfort, rail companies shall
encourage music players to use earphones, but not provide the passengers with
electrical power to play their instruments. The playing of music shall not include
acoustic instruments, but shall be limited to music gadgets using earphones. (PS 68)
Rail companies shall allow the train worshippers in certain train coaches. (PS
69)Railway companies shall provide refuse plastic bags for all coaches and
encourage passengers to use these instead of littering on the trains and throwing
used and unwanted articles through windows. (PS 70)

7.6.12 Allowing Passengers To Alight Before Others Board

There is usually a confusion that arises when a train reaches a station between alighting
and boarding passengers. Passengers who wish to board the train may cause the alighting
passengers to be confused as to who should have the right of way.
These passengers may have to alight with discomfort and sometimes miss their
stations. This confusion often arises when trains are full, when they run late or when there
is an unexpectedly high volume of passengers at any given time.
Rail companies will appeal to boarding passengers to allow the alighting
passenger to have the right of way and appeal to train drivers to ascertain whether
all passengers had have boarded the train. (PS 71)

7.7 A PSYCHOANALYTICAL APPROACH

Train surfing and train suicide cannot be exhausted without the understandings of the
conditions under which it happens and the minds of the people who are involved, in it.
The same holds for the train suicides and the people who throw people off trains.
A study conducted in Germany in the Munich Municipal Subway System was aimed
at understanding the distinct pattern of subway suicidal behaviour in terms purposeful
infliction, date, time, location of accidents, sex of victim and outcome over a 20-year
observation period.
The study found that the average suicide attempters were younger and followed a
certain seasonal cycle. More women were involved in subway suicides than would be
expected.71
In relation to train-surfing, a study which was undertaken for analysis under the aspect
of legal medicines and based on autopsy records came with an array of results. The age
profile was between 13-25 years.
The male-female gender ratio was 13.1. Most accidents are occurring during the
warmer season of the year. Most of them were between 20.00 and midnight. 50% of all
were affected by alcohol.72

70
Sky News. 27 December 2006
71
Ladwig K and Bauemert, J. Patterns of Suicidal Behaviour In A Metro Subway System. The
European Journal of Public Health. 2004. 14 (3) 291-295.
 In relation to drivers who try but cannot avoid these accidents, these acts will have a
psychological impact on them for a long time. The deadly choices that train surfers make
to climb on top or under the trains do not offer solace to the train drivers.
Guilt forever consumes drivers that it was on their train that accidents happened. For
the train driver whose train these happen more often, the psychological effect is likely to
be greater. The branding of your train as a killer train, or you as a murderer, has a hard
knock on any one’s sanity.
In a study conducted in France to study the psychiatric disorders, somatic health and
professional effects of French train drivers who have experienced a “person under train
accidents” found that the frequency of psycho-behavioural disorders following a “person
under train accident” is low among the population of French train drivers. Some drivers
have become immune to the shocks and traumas they experience.
In Germany, where roughly 5% of drivers are involved in railway suicides, the trauma
levels are exacerbated by the fact that train drivers have to “secure their train, or to
dismount to give first aid to a surviving victim before any assistance is available.”73
The employers’ liability when it comes to relieving stress for drivers who experience
“person under the train accidents” has to be discussed further between the employers (rail
companies) was tested in court.
In the United States, the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) was tested in court
about this issue. The court found that the employer was not liable in the absence of a
threat imminent direct physical impact are not entitled to relief from the employer.74
The age pyramid of train drivers in South Africa shows that train drivers are getting
older. The intake of new drivers is taking longer than anticipated. Even if the intake were
to be quicker, the psychiatric effect of these incidents on the train on younger drivers are
likely to be higher than in elder drivers. The psychological levels of new entry drivers
will continue to be a cause for concern to rail companies.
Rail companies all over the world do not cater for the drivers’ well-being. They often
argue from the companies’ perspective, that the driver was only running his train.
Bokaba has studied the effects of train accidents and suicides on metro rail drivers in
the Pretoria operational area. He has recommended Employee Assistance Programmes
(EAP) deal with the psychological effects on drivers.75 The recommendations raised by
drivers who were interviewed may seem unrelated, but they are connected to the stress
relief and trauma mitigation.
The stress relief and stress mitigations, according to train drivers interviewed by
Bokaba would need that locomotive have seating arrangements in the drivers’
compartments to be made more comfortable.
Such a seat arrangement requires new sets of locomotives. Bokaba suggested the
reduction of long working hours, the provision of cell phones for improving
communication, the choice of medical aid and the companies to pay for allowances.
Office-based workers take decisions about the post-accident reparations, but for the
drivers, who have “front seat row” view of these accidents as more people are hit, or

72
Strauch, H. et.al. 1998. Fatal Accidents Due To Train Accidents In Berlin. Forensic Science
International Volume 94, Issues 1-2. 8 June 1998. Pages 119-127.
73
Siol, T. et.al. Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms in Train drivers Following Serious Accidents: A
Pilot Study. Institute For Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy. University of Cologne.
Germany.
74
Keram, E. Commentary: The Zone of Danger. Physical impact and PTSD. Journal of American
Academic Psychiatry Law. 34:200-3. 2006.
75
Bokaba, M. 2005. Work Experience Of Metro Rail Train Drivers: An Employee Assistance
Programme Study. University of Pretoria.
ridden over “heads on,” the effects on their (the drivers’) minds is greater. For the office
managers, the statistic is a concern, but for the drivers, the reality of the event is even
more mentally disturbing.
A New Jersey transit engineer (train driver) related a story when they were going
through the communities’ education about the dangers of train safety. One student
accused him of being a murderer.
The victim’s family lived along the rail track where an accident happened. Each time
his train passed through, they blamed him for the accident.76
The daring train surfers, “Trainrider” who boarded the speed train, ICE with a speed
of 250 km/h, was diagnosed with a leukaemia diagnosis.
Train surfing cannot be a sport, but a way to escape a certain psychological condition
and to reclaim esteem and self-worth. Some train surfers, who were interviewed for the
SABC TV Special Assignment, have indicated that their activities are to seek the
attention of girls, who “usually stand on the sidelines and ululate.”77
Whether girls are impressed or not, is a different matter. The choice of impressing
girls through risk-taking is a signal of low self-esteem. To translate this to the dangerous
pursuit of train surfing would need a psychoanalytical approach.
Evolutionary psychologists at the University of Maine who have categorized these
risks, take into two categories, namely the heroic risk taker and the non-heroic. Heroic
risk-takers are those who do so for the good of others, such as saving a child from near
drowning without due regard for their possibility of drowning.
On the other hand, train surfing falls under category non-heroic risk taker. In relation
to which one attracts the opposite sex, Farthing found that males and females relate
positively to heroic risk takes and men and women preferred a risk avoider to a risk taker,
which translates to self-aggrandizement.78 Train surfing is a foolish risk. The UN Maine
Today warned:

“If a woman is considering a man as a mate, she wants him to be a survivor and not going off
taking foolish risks.”79

In the case of train suicides, a suicidal path of psychological problems can be traced. If
closely monitored, people who are prone to commit train suicide reveal their intentions
from depression, helplessness despair and some form of other troubles even before the
commission of the suicide.
The role of parents and communities would have to come to play in noticing these
psychological problems and taking the necessary steps to avoid these unfortunate
accidents.
The railway companies shall compile a profile of attempted suicide and train
surfers in conjunction with the psychological institutions and professionals to
understand the mindset of the people who engage in these activities. (PS 72)
The railway companies shall work with Social Workers to understand the social
aspects of train surfers and train suicides. (PS 73)
Parents and communities shall play their role in identifying potential train
suicide cases and take the necessary steps to try and prevent them or call for the
necessary professional assistance. (PS 74)

76
Tragic Tracks www.breadcrumb.co.za
77
Dlamini, N. Train Surfing Thrills Bored Youngsters. October 3, 2006.
78
Ibid.
79
Being a Daredevil. UNMaine Today Magazine. October 2005.
 To mitigate these psychological effects on the train drivers, the companies shall
continue to offer psychological services such as debriefings to train drives and the
necessary support to the drivers’ families. (PS 75)

7.8 AN INDIVIDUALISTIC APPROACH

Three issues about the role of the individuals in this assignment arise.
The first has to do with the many ethical debates about euthanasia and assisted
suicides, stemming from religious bases and community values. When an individual
decides to take his or her life in a train suicide, it is about an individual’s choice, but the
consequences for many others who did not take that decision has to be addressed beyond
the individual’s decision to commit suicide.
Among the issues to be addressed is whether rail companies can claim the estate of the
deceased as it relates to the recovery of their costs in delays, scene clearing and other
costs.
The second relates to the commuter who travels as an individual whose rights should
be respected within the framework of his or her constitutional rights. The complications
of the operations of the rail system compromise individual’s rights can, including the
freedom of movement, the freedom of association and the right to life.
When the behaviour of others threatens the right to life of an individual passenger on
the rail system, there is so much that rail companies can do to guarantee the safety. The
reaction of rail companies is after the fact. This opens the companies to some lawsuits
about its failure to protect its commuters.
The third pertains to the commuters’ obligations of assisting other commuters or
persuading them not to do what affects him as an individual, such as smoking. An
individual can take a decision not to assist other commuters in an accident as this is the
domain of rail companies.
If the individual makes a rational choice of assisting other commuters, to what extent
can he or she claim emoluments for providing such assistance from rail companies which
should be providing this service?
Were such assistance to be provided by rail companies, it would have been at a cost to
company, but the individual commuter does it for free. Are rail companies not obliged, if
not legally, at least morally, to compensate the individual commuter for his or her service
and if so by how much?
These issues are raised without provision of policy and are left to the development of
further policy or to be categorized as work in progress by rail companies.
Rail companies shall categorize the deaths and injuries in suicides and attempted
suicides on the train and rail tracks as self-inflicted death and injury. They shall not
enter into further debates save to the companies’ discretion to assist the families of
the deceased (PS 76)
Rail companies shall liaise with one another on compensation for commuters who
assist other passengers in an accident. (PS 77)

7.9 AN EDUCATION AND AWARENESS APPROACH

Metrorail, a component of the railway utility company, has embarked on educational

programmes teaching school children about the dangers of train surfing. The education
officer is assisted by security guards who identify surfers by their school uniforms and
she (the Metrorail education officer) visits the schools.
She visits parents, but the students’ parents are shocked because they do not know that
their children are involved in this activity.
 We have indicated that there is a passing of the buck between parents and teachers
about who should take responsibility for reversing the trend of train surfing and train
suicides.
Schools should play their role in integrating railway safety into the school curriculum,
even more so if schools are situated near railway tracks.
The role of prefects as champions of discipline for students should be extended
beyond school boundaries. Prefects should act against schoolmates who misbehave
outside school. This will contribute to a person who is an asset to the community.
Schools should evaluate whether misbehaviour in trains should be a punishable
offence. The current rail utility company is persuading the train surfers to change their
ways. 20 learners who were participating in the dangerous exercise have been roped in as
100 volunteers who will help promote railway safety during the Festive Season.80
This volunteerism must continue beyond the festive season but to use the festive
season as a starting point for 365-day safety awareness campaign.
The role of the media in the awareness campaign should be redefined. Short of
sensationalizing train surfing, the responsibilities of the media should be articulated. The
depiction of train surfing as a new sports craze, or being depicted as daredevil township
macho imagery instead of despicable acts of a township culture gone wrong, needs
radical re-evaluation.
The role of the media can be enhanced by the extent to which parents and the role
players give to them (the media). The parents of the deceased teenager chased the media
away, saying they did not want to speak to the reporters.
The role played by one newspaper in Japan responds to the proclivity of the Japanese
to use the train as a method of suicide, or seppuku. The Mainich Shimbun has listed some
stories of train suicides, with victims ranging from professors to the unemployed, to the
people in wheelchairs and others.81
Rail companies shall continue with and extend existing educational programmes
and extend them throughout the operational areas. (PS 78)
All new entrants into the rail business, regarding third-party access, shall have to
evaluate the educational programme offered by the current rail utilities and to
determine if this should be continued. Modifications to the current educational
programmes shall be extended and only be modified to cater for the specific needs of
the new entrants. (PS 79)
Rail companies shall work closely with the media, ensuring that they issue the
media access to their information which shall reverse the trends of train surfing and
train suicides. Rail companies shall issue periodic press releases about their
challenges and successes in fighting these scourges. (PS 80)

7.10 A MODAL EFFICIENCY APPROACH

The issues of train routing and trains scheduling may seem innocuous to be included in a
policy discussion document. The reason for this train routing is that it may cause delays.
Delays lead to overcrowding.
Delays may be caused by outages and the loss of power for trains running on electrical
power. The results are lapses in day-to-day operations, by low maintenance, accidents and
loss of equipment essential for the operations of the rail system.

80
Bua News (Tshwane). November 29, 2006.
81
See “Ain’t No way To Go: Seppuku By Train.
 The challenge of train scheduling is to find a combination of routes for all trains while
guaranteeing safety. Operations should determine the type of scheduling that best suits
their operations, between the choice of predictive scheduling and reactive scheduling.
Train scheduling relies on data such as the station tracks distances between stations,
traffic control features, the location of junctions, commuter populations, peak times,
crossovers, overtaking trains, the frequency of trains and other problems
One of the problems leading to train delays and commuter anxiety is the commuters’
lack of knowledge about when the trains will arrive. Scheduling is aimed at
synchronization to increase punctuality, reduce delays to increase train density while
avoiding the building of new railway tracks.
If scheduling is weak and one train is delayed, more trains will be delayed.
Train scheduling requires the synchronization of the three elements related to it. The
first one is the rail car flows, which should be linked to the second one, the locomotive
flows and the third one the flow of crew.
Unlike the manual operations of the past, modern training routing systems rely on
computational analyses. In this computational analysis, logarithms play an important role.
But this is not enough to dispel the complexities that may arise particularly those that
arise when train routing is done through railway stations.
Rail companies shall improve its train scheduling and raise punctuality levels to
the required standards. They shall avoid the cancellation of trains when they are
most needed, particularly at peak hour times. (PS 81)
Rail companies shall update their scheduling and routing systems. These should
be replaced with the available new technologies. (PS 82)

7.11 AN INTERNATIONAL APPROACH

The case of the German Train Rider who took to train surfing including bullet trains after
being diagnosed with leukaemia has been articulated. It is mentioned again here to
indicate that train surfing is a phenomenon that is found in many cities.
Depending on the country, the level of reporting and the angle taken can discourage or
abet the growth of this phenomenon. With the phenomenon of the media arising again in
South Africa, the bad side of the surfing is reflected on many websites as a Soweto
miscreants’ sports craze. Train surfing is aligned with poverty. The shift to Soweto and
the under-reporting about these events in developed countries can be understood.
Known as subway surfing in New York, train surfing is said to be back in vogue after
going through a hiatus after the 1980s and the 1990s. The dangers remain and the practice
is still “pure lunacy that ends up with blood on the tracks.”82
The “surfers” ride the “waves of the subway” by standing on top of the train with their
arms stretched out like wings for balance. They hop from one car to the next, ducking to
avoid tunnels and bridges, as the trains travel at speeds of 30-miles an hour.”
In Botswana, train surfing is not much of a problem compared to train suicides. The
number of train suicides prompted the country’s Minister of Works and Transport,
Tebeleo Seretse to appeal

“to the people not to use the train to kill themselves. If people want to commit suicide, they
should use trees not our trains.”83

82
Act of Stupidity? I am On the Train. Google.
83
Suicidal Batswanas Urged To Use Trees, Not Trains. Bloomberg 17 February 2004.
Brazil’s train surfing is seized with the same problems of train surfing as South Africa.
The comparison between the two states as developing countries means they can learn
from each other. In Brazil, there were reported 200 deaths and 500 injured train surfers
(or surfistas) in 18 months.
The nicknames of television stars, the social condition, the challenges to rail such as
lateness of trains passengers setting the trains alight of they are late, the stealing of copper
wires, are found in both countries. South Africa and Brazil, do not have adequate
financial resources to police trains.
Train surfing is not a uniquely a South African phenomenon. Solutions to it should be
based on international benchmarking.
Rail companies shall study how international rail entities, in the same income
group but with a bigger population cope with the challenges of train surfing. (PS 83)
The railway passenger companies shall appraise themselves of the co-operation
between the Canadian Government and rail safety authorities in South Africa,
relating to the safety of the public, personnel and railway property.84 (PS 84)

7.12 A NON-CLASS APPROACH

There is an amount of reference to train surfing as a second cousin of the more upmarket
and middle-class form of sea surfing. The document indicates that the emphasis on
Soweto. The underplaying of the growth train surfing in the developed parts of the world,
feeds into this stereotype.
In line with this thought of connecting poverty and class status to surfing, one reporter
indicated that in his interviews,

“their background struck him. They do not have swimming pools in their homes; they don’t
have any places of entertainment. Train-surfing is their way of entertaining themselves.” 85

Many of the surfers had abusive fathers or were raised by single mothers or some
explanation that refers to dysfunctional families. The Wall Street Journal observed that

“riding on top of trains is a stunt popular among the poor youth of North Rio. Their
counterparts in the wealthy south of the city surf the wave; they surf the trains.” 86

The World Development Forum (WDF) explains this phenomenon within a globalization
context by linking poverty to Latin America’s overseas debt crisis and government
spending cutbacks which have spawned a lost generation.87
Trains meander across all classes of suburbs. The affluent and the poor are prone and
susceptible to the practice in equal measures. The forms of depressions which may lead
people to train suicides cannot, in the absence of authoritative research, create a separate
policy position for the two classes.
As Black people migrate to suburbs, they assume a middle-class status. There is
evidence that as soon as they assume the new class, they let go of the old habits. Formerly
rich Whites get mingled up into the poverty levels of their Black counterparts, the class
demarcations become blurred.

84
Business Day. 21 November 2001.
85
Dlamini, N Train Surfing Thrills Bored Youngsters. October 3, 2006.
86
Wall Street Journal. 18 November 1988.
87
World Development Forum. Vol. 9. No 3, 1991.
 The merits or demerits of this connection between poverty and train surfing will need
scrutiny through the use of other instruments of validation. As a proper sanctioning
mechanism, all surfers, whether from poor or rich areas and of whatever class, has to be
treated by the same for their similar misdeeds.
Train suicides and other train related misdeeds cannot, for this policy document, be
seen in terms of class.
Rail companies shall categorize all train surfing violations, train suicides, fare
avoidance, throwing people off the trains, using rail as decoys for murders
committed elsewhere as illegal offences under the rail system, irrespective of the
class categorization and the place of origin of the people involved. (PS 85)

7.13 A LEGALISTIC APPROACH

The predominant legislation that governs most of the rail operations is the Legal
Succession Act and supporting amendments. Promulgated mainly to facilitate the
migration of the old South African Railways and Harbours (SAR and H) to its new name,
Transnet and to subsequent breakups of the giant parastatal, the Act’s weakness is that it
is an omnibus catering for anything and everything related to rail.
There is a need to break this legislation up and to categorize its parts to respond to the
specific issues. Comprehensive considerations must inform the break.
What Transnet said and wished, was understood to be what the State wished. The
parastatal could request and obtain from the state, exemptions that advantaged it over
other companies of a similar nature to give it the competitive edge.
As the company spanned all business sectors from transport, to housing, to insurance,
to pharmacies, property, security and other sectors, it became “a state within a state.” In
the current economic climate, this situation is no longer an option.
New business operations developments and imperatives have come to the fore. The
market-based orientation within the context of a mixed economy and a developmental
state requires policy interventions.
In opening up the rail sector for third-party access, a policy that will cater, on an equal
basis for all other players is necessary.
The growth of the rail passenger transportation cannot be seen in isolation to the
growth of public transportation as a whole. What is good for rail passenger transportation,
should not of necessity, be detrimental to the growth of the feeder systems provided by
buses, minibus taxis, walking and cycling as other modes of transportation.
Notwithstanding the gaps identified in the preceding paragraphs, the constant which
should inform future legislative and policy directions is that in relation to train surfing,
train suicide, throwing people off the train, a no liability policy against rail companies
should be maintained.
When train surfing occurs, the people who engage in it would have committed an
earlier crime, such as opening the door of a moving train. In the case of a train suicide, a
victim would have committed unlawful entry.
In a London case, train surfers who had lost their limbs after a train surfing gone
wrong, the High Court threw out the case on the bases of the foolhardiness of the
claimants. It stated:

“Neither would have strolled across in front of an approaching train. Neither was unaware of
the risk he ran by “surfing… These two youngsters were, in my view, fully aware of the risk,
its nature and extent, and when on to take it.”88

88
Train Surfers Lose Damage Claim. BBC News. March 19, 1999.
The ruling in this claim brought against Associated British Ports (ABP) and British
Railway Board (BRB) could be the starting point for the evolution of policy position and
legal precedence. It should be studied further for synergies and legal position
development by the DOT.
On some occasions, rail companies have assisted families in burying their relatives
who have died in train accidents and incidents. These have been forced on the companies
by the inquests and court directives.
In November 2006 the rail utility had spent about R200 000 towards medical and
funeral expenses after the death of 20 people in a truck that collided with a train at a level
crossing in Cape Town.89
But there is a problem that must be addressed with the provision of boom gates and
sirens.90In 2003, Metrorail made R13 000 compassionate contribution to the families in
the train smash.91
People and drivers are taught what to expect on the road. The signals about level
crossing are one of the important things that they are warned against.
There should be an interrogation of heavy penalties as a deterrent, but this should be
balanced against the affordability of the culprits to meet the penalty costs.
Security guards do sometimes catch train surfing culprit… it will be in the interest of
rail companies and the state not to clog the prison system with people who get
incarcerated because they cannot afford bail and fines.
It is not clear what sanctions can be brought against transgressing people, particularly
those who are caught in the act of train surfing or attempting suicide. In relation to train
surfing, security guards do sometimes catch the culprits.
According to one surfer who was interviewed for a television programme, beat them
up and sometimes makes them do gym exercises.
Ex post facto arrest is another area of contestation. It is not clear whether there is a
process where the culprits who are known train surfers cannot be arrested ex-post facto at
homes, their schools or in trains even when not surfing on that particular day.
This will create a litigious and legal defence scenario which will be costly in
comparison to a community and education and awareness approach.
Rail companies have been allocated powers that they have not used to maximum
effect. These powers should be revisited to strengthen them where they are weak and to
put them to good use where they are underutilized.
In the Western Cape (Cape Metro Rail), the company has their security staff of which
40 have the powers of arrest as qualified Peace Officers. There is also a Permanent Public
Protector who has access to designated courts in eight courts.
Culprits can be prosecuted for illegal activities such as illegal rail crossings, fare
evasion, refusing to close the doors or standing in open doors, cable theft and smoking in
trains.92 These powers are not publicized, and they are not country-wide.
In India, there is a published list of offences, the minimum and maximum punishment
that can be imposed on offenders. Among the offences are fraudulently travelling or
attempting to travel without proper pass or ticket; travelling without authority; interfering
with the means of communication in a train; unauthorized transfer of tickets;

89
Train Surfers Turn Rail Ambassadors. SA News. 28 November 2006.
90
Business Day. 12 April 2005.
91
Sowetan. January 9, 2003.
92
Response To FAQs. www.capemetrorail.co.za
unauthorized procuring and selling of tickets’ unauthorized hawking, or canvassing or
begging; drunkenness or nuisance.93
The same regime exists in many railway jurisdictions about the non-transferability of
tickets. In some jurisdiction, there is relaxation such that fare avoidance is left to the good
hearts of the train users.
In Los Angeles and other like-minded systems, the ticketing system is honour-based,
meaning that the rail operators rely on the commuters to buy the tickets. There are no
turnstiles. This is not the option for the rail operators in South Africa.
Rail companies shall be obliged to obey court directives while reserving their full
rights under the law to challenge what it considers to be to the detriment of its
interests. (PS 86)
The Railway Police shall have the right to arrest offenders even post-
transgression. They shall be allowed to visit the parents of students who are involved
in these unwelcome activities. (PS 94)

7.15 A CONSULTATIVE APPROACH

The DOT consists of divisions relevant to the development and implementation of policy
than others. The division responsible for policy will call on the implementing units to be
part of the process of the development of the Policy.
It is envisaged that with this involvement of policy development, implementation units
will be in a position to respond to questions that may pertain to their areas of
responsibility.
Transport is a cost-cutting issue, bringing together all or most Government
departments. It is required that apart from the normal route of approvals by Parliament, a
workshop with all the Government departments be convened.
The role of the community has been suggested in the section that deals with the
ostracization of the train surfers. It is not feasible to reach all communities. To
circumvent this, the document has to serve at a structure of community organizations.
The need to consult commuters is presaged on them being the primary users of the rail
service. They experience the delays and are at the coal face of all the issues raised in this
discussion document.
Signals and signalling failures contribute to the cited delays. The improvement of
signalling technologies has been highlighted. The Intelligent Transport Systems
community has to be consulted on the development of this policy.
The state of mind plays in the commission of these unwelcome acts in the rail system.
The Psychological institutions and practitioners will be consulted on the further
development of this policy document. Social environment analyses reveal that some of
the people who engage in these acts have family and social problems which need the
interventions of social workers.
Some of the resources to address them psychoanalytically, medical literature
experience and research fields are required. Cooperation and sharing of ideas with how
other governments and rail companies deal with these issues are crucial.
The medical profession, encompassing hospitals, emergency rescue services are at the
forefront of recovery of bodies or taking care of the injured. The trauma of the train
drivers in rail accidents and incidents has been highlighted. The policy document will be
discussed with them in their organized and individual forms.

93
Offences and Penalties Under IRA -1989.
 Rail companies are natural to the consultation process as service providers. The
greatest amount of the document pertains to the role that these companies should play in
policy implementation.
Rail companies need to go beyond the state utility include such players as recreational
rail companies, commuter rail companies, mining houses which are the second largest
owners of rail. Tourist operators who hire rail services should be included
An efficient rail service is as good as its feeder services. Feeders to the system include
taxis, buses and pedestrians. The document has to serve before these structures.
Coach designers for train windows and doors that prevent people jumping out of
windows and blocking doors from being opened when the train is in motion should be
consulted.
Labour transcends most of the concerns raised such as train delays, design, accident
recoveries, train drivers and others. Social workers, security guards, policemen who
should put effect to this policy can be grouped under workers if they are organized.
Organized labour’s view will be solicited for their comments.
Train delays have an impact on business and industrial production and the distribution
of commodities. Industrial and business players will be invited to make comments on the
policy document.
We have referred to crawl type platforms where people who fall between the platform
and the train can hide. Platforms construction institutions within the civil engineering and
the construction field will be solicited for their views.
The document has referred to the fact that security guards bear much of the
responsibility to stop these acts in the rail system. Together with the Railway Police and
ticket examiners, they will be invited to make comments on the policy document.
The police services, including the autopsy divisions within them, will be approached
with a view of having their inputs incorporated into the policy.
Programmes are underway to persuade scholars and students through their schools to
desist from the acts which form the basis of this paper. The document will serve before
the student bodies and education authorities.
We have alluded to the role of the media, print and electronic, in highlighting these
issues. Their role in policy formulation is important, particularly as it relates to the
glorification and or sensationalization of such deeds, their access to stories of this nature
and their responsible reporting to dispel the positives of train surfing as a sport.
We alluded to the train surfers creating themselves as role models, or modelling
themselves around movie stars and sports stars. “Constructive” role models, such as in
sports and celebrities in the communities where these acts take place at a higher rate than
others have to be appraised of the role that they should play in reversing these trends.
It may be difficult to get consensus from all the players mentioned in the preceding
paragraph. It may not be possible to get to speak to them all. The consultative process has
to decide which role players form the critical mass of contributions to policy and to avoid
those stakeholders whose contributions may be minimal but may drag the process of
consultation longer.
It may be necessary for the policy consultation process to prioritize residential areas of
high prevalence and to start implementation of policy in these areas while the areas of
least prevalence can be added on a case-by-case basis.
When there is a need to group stakeholders, those with similar structured policies,
practice and mandate should be grouped. The grouping will expedite the process through
common understanding.
From each of these areas of consultation should be issued a statement of support from
each constituency and such statement should commit the stakeholders to the
implementation of policy.
 The Department of Transport shall engage all stakeholders in the development of
the rail policies and regulations and/or legislation that deal with train surfing, train
suicides and other related matters. (PS 95)
The Department of Transport shall prioritize consultation of high-risk areas and
with institutions and stakeholders that will contribute significantly to this policy
implementation. (PS96)

8. ENHANCING VALUE FOR RAIL COMPANIES

8.1 Business Development

The Rail network provides some opportunities for business for rail and non-rail people.
Some of these business possibilities and returns to rail companies have to be discussed
with the commuters. There is likely to be the initial resistance of users have been using
these premises and facilities free of charge.
The document has been alluding to the posting of certain notices on the train such as
those of the banning weapons that should not be carried and the notices for the closing of
doors while the train is in motion. Coach space can be used for posting of adverts for
commercial purposes and notices by individuals outside the rail system for a fee.
Vending on the train is not properly regulated. current vendors would like to be
protected from other entrants. Their captive customers should not be poached.
The station property should be explored for further business opportunities, particularly
the unused property that is owned by rail companies. These business sites are occasioned
by the creation of space between the residential areas and the rail tracks.
In the underutilization of such space for other activities, informal settlements which
endanger the lives of communities who live near train stations, arise. For the people who
unwittingly board trains without tickets, the companies will partner with retail
supermarkets to sell tickets as agents of the company.
They will find ways to make tickets available through the off-station usual points of
ticket sale such as Computicket and other similar vendors.
The railway companies will, individually or collectively, consider the installation of
self-operating ticket vending machines at stations. The companies will engage with
service providers for the ticket validators at the stations or in the trains.
This will inevitably mean that the validator will activate the turnstile type entry gates
at the stations. The opportunities in this area alone should be further explored.
The proliferation of vendors in the train station precincts has to be properly regulated
so as not to limit the space of movement for passengers. The number of vendors could be
restricted by licensing and the payment of license fees. It is through this system of
licensing that access to bridges which block space by vendors can be solved.
Train scheduling has been a problem for the commuters. The train timetables and their
numbers and routes are not reflected in many stations, particularly the small ones. It is
only through habit that commuters know what time the train will arrive.
There is a value-add through the posting on the internet of the train timetables and
their numbers and destinations. With the help of internet service providers and IT
specialists, this can be provided to commuters who have access to handheld diary
organizers, PDA’s, cell phones, IPads laptops and other gadgets, (through a preset
timetable inquiry number).
Although not yet fully developed in the world, there is an opening for rail companies
to compete with the “negative train surfing” by using the “positive train surfing.” This
refers to internet access to commuters on the train.
 This will require the retrofitting of internet access points, or if possible and with the
development of technologies, the migration to a wireless environment.
Rail has not marketed itself as a safe mode of transportation. Within the
communications strategy, rail companies should not be seen to be competing with the
faster and more flexible transportation modes, but be part of the bigger transport family.
There is a further financial transactory regime that needs to be explored which rail
companies have avoided – that of credit and debit card usage. As more people migrate to
a cashless environment, there is an urgent need for the company to purchase credit card
verification tools, which are in widespread usage.
Flight costs being determined by the growing low fare air services. The loyalty
programmes determining the captive customer profile of the airlines’ clientele, it is time
that the rail industry considers these alternatives to attract new clients.

8.2 Energy Absorption Techniques

The energy issues related to trains do not, on their own, fall into the categories in this
document. With the current power outages and with the trains depended on that power,
there will be problems of delays related to the power cuts.
The rail utility can default to diesel power, but the delays will lead to some of the
passengers’ anxieties. The rail system will respond to the current power outages in
particular, but to respond to the environmental benefits that come from alternative
energies to save the environment.

8.3 Devolution and Divestiture

In the past, the Departments of Transport and the Public Enterprises made hints about
devolving the powers of Metro rail to the metropolitan areas that could afford to run this
service. The suggestion has now been mothballed, if not by default, certainly by the
restructuring of the South African Commuter Rail Corporation, its incorporation into
Metrorail and the future integration of Shosholoza Meyl.
A new restructuring process that will shift the responsibility for the construction,
maintenance and ownership of railway stations by metros, district municipalities and
local municipalities in which these stations are situated, is urgent. The maintenance of
railway stations and the property around it is not core to the service.
The property and the stations are owned by Propnet, a division of Spoornet. It will be
necessary for SARCC/Metrorail, as restructured, to consider entering into negotiations
between the Propnet, its parent company, Spoornet and the holding company, Transnet,
on exiting the station business in line with the Turn-Around Strategy (TAS) of the
holding company.
The advantage of this transfer, with the requisite compensatory agreements, to the
Metros and municipalities, will be that the stations will be able to blend with the
municipal themes, in construction and ambience.
The determination of stations, plans, architecture and operational style, has not yielded
the required results in terms of maintenance. The stations in Chinatown, for instance, will
take the ambience of Chinese architecture and thus blend with the surroundings. African
themes can be expressed. Victorian styles can be preserved.
The powers of policing may have to be discussed further. Security in the
transportation system is disjointed. Protocols between SARCC/Metro /Shosholoza Meyl
and the affording metros will have to be entered into.
8.4 Taking Advantage Of Changing Travel Patterns

There are changing travel patterns from the traditional. In the past, travelling was from
suburb to the Central Business District (CBD). This is gradually changing to travel
demand from suburb to suburb, thus making the CBD an interchange rather than an
endpoint. Railway companies should take advantage of these changing travel patterns.
All advertisements or display for publicity or bill posting on the train shall be
under the regulation of rail companies. Proper procedures for the placing and the
purchase of train space shall be followed by the advertiser. (PS 97)
Rail companies shall offset their cost of operations by leveraging a limited license
fee from other users of the rail system. (PS 98)
Rail companies shall engage with energy absorption technologies, and they shall
support all research that will lay the foundation for alternative energy sources for
the rail industry. (PS 99)
The Department of Transport shall prevail on the railway companies to consider
migration to new energy technologies to benefit the environment and to bequeath its
many attributes to the future of our children. (PS 100)
The SARCC/Metrorail and Shosholoza Meyl shall consider, under proper
Memoranda of Understanding and the correct protocols, devolving the powers to
build, operate and maintain railways stations by metros and municipalities where
stations are situated. (PS 101)
Railway companies shall study the changing travel demands that make the CBD,
previously the end point of the journey, a connection point. To extend the service
and to take advantage of these changing travel patterns, railway companies shall
enter into agreements with one another on the connector services. (PS 102)

9. INDICATORS
ISSUE 2020 2025 2030
Staff riding reduced 35% 50% 80%
Trains surfing reduced 60% 80% 90%
Trains suicides reduced 50% 75% 92%
Attempted train suicides reduced 60% 80% 90%
Decline of Number of People 40% 70% 80%
Thrown Off Trains
Reduced number of people placed 64% 80% 95%
on tracks after being murdered
Number of platforms with Crawl 15% 30% 62%
facilities
Number of Platforms with brighter 25% 55% 60%
atmosphere
Number of Platform with yellow 70% 30% -
Lines
Reduced Cost of Recovery 30% 50% 70%
Understanding of Autopsy Profiles 20% 30% 55%
Understanding of Psychology 28% 50% 60%
Profiles
Broken Windows Repaired 70% 100% -
Number of Notices Against 100% - -
Blocking Of Doors
No of settlements near track 15% 30% 45%
relocated
No of Broadcasts on Train Delays 40% 70% 100%
No of Schools Covered in anti- 30% 50% 75%
surfing education
No of smokers caught and 70% 100% -
reprimanded
No of Gamblers caught 70% 100% -
Reduced littering 90% 100%
Improved Train scheduling 60% 30% 10%
Declining train rerouting 40% 70% 90%
Number of Press Statements and 70% 80% 90%
Meeting with Media
Rate of coordination with feeder 70% 83% 100%
services

10. WAY FORWARD AND TIME FRAMES

The issues raised in this Policy document should have been dealt with some time ago.
This has been a policy gap whose need has been highlighted by a television program. In
essence, the urgency of the document is occasioned by the very fact that it is reacting to a
crisis. The shortest time frames will be decided.
The Policy division will circulate this document for internal comments. The time limit
that will be allowed for this level of internal comments will be two months after the date
of distribution of the paper for comments.
An internal workshop will be convened to receive comments from the internal
stakeholders three weeks after the closing date of the comments.
The document will be taken to EXCO for their comments and to authorize that the
document be released for external consultation. This will have to be done in the first
seating of EXCO after the internal workshop.
A Cabinet Memo will be drafted requesting the Cabinet to approve the release of the
document for external comments. This will be done two weeks after EXCO has made its
comments.
External circulation will be done two weeks after Cabinet has given its approval for
external consultation. A print media advert, hard copies of the policy document and the
internet access to the document will be tools used to achieve this. External comments will
be given two months.
The comments of the external consultation process shall be incorporated into a
document that will be sent to the Transport Parliamentary Portfolio Committee. Briefings
to Parliament will be determined by the parliamentary portfolio committee’s schedule and
is beyond the control of the Department.
It will be sent to Cabinet for final approval as Government policy. This process will
take place a week after the end of the two months period of external comments.
The document will then be handed over to the Legislative programme. This will be
under the joint supervision of the Legal Section: Legislation and the Incident and
Accident section of DOT.
 REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

ANTI-TRAIN SURFING, ANTI-TRAIN SUICIDE, FARE

AVOIDANCE AND OTHER RELATED MATTERS DRAFT
BILL

(As Introduced In the National Assembly as a Section ## Bill)

(The English version is the Official Text of the Bill)

(Minister of Transport)

[B#-#####) ISBN No ####### X

No of Copies Printed

BILL

To provide for the exemption of the railway companies) in the event of claims from parents and
next of kin of people who die or get injured as a result of the practice known as train-surfing or
staff-riding;) those who commit suicide through using the railways tracks and being deliberately
knocked down by moving trains; thrown out of trains and those who get injured through no fault
of the railway companies.

PREAMBLE

WHEREAS Section 11 of the South African Constitution, 1996 provides that everyone has the
right to life; and

WHEREAS Section 15 (1) provides that everyone has the right to freedom of conscience,
religion, thought, belief and opinion, and that (2) religious observances may be conducted at state
or state-aided institution provided that

(a) Those observances follow the rules made by the appropriate public authorities;
(b) they are conducted on an equitable basis; and
(c) attendance at them is free and voluntary’ and

WHEREAS SECTION 21(1) of the South African Constitution of 1996 provides that everyone
has the right to freedom of movement and residence, and

WHEREAS Section 36 of the South African Constitution, 1996 provides that the rights may be
limited only in terms of the law of general application to the extent that the limitation is
reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality
and freedom taking into account all relevant factors.
WHEREAS legislation that covers rail transportation has not be clarified about how rail
companies can be absolved from deaths and injuries that result from of trains-surfing, train
suicide and claims resulting from incidents and accidents beyond their control;

WHEREAS train incidents and accidents beyond the control of the rail companies have
deleterious effects on the movement of train users,

AND TO ENSURE that

 “train surfing” does not continue to main and kill passengers on our railway system;
 railway companies are not held liable for the commitment of crimes by passengers through
either “train surfing”, suicide, being thrown off trains and being injured;
 citizens are dissuaded from using trains and railway tracks to commit suicide;
 railway tracks and railway property are not used as a false crime scene for people murdered
elsewhere and dumped on the railway system;
 those who throw off or push out other passengers from the train are identified and punished;
 the railway companies adhere to their technical, operational and customer care obligations to
provide safety and security for their passengers

BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, as

follows:

ARRANGEMENT OF ACT

Sections

CHAPTER 1

DEFINITIONS AND APPLICATION OF THE ACT

1. Definitions
2. Application of Act

CHAPTER 2

IMPLEMENTATION CLAUSES

1. Constitutionality of the Policy Proposals

2. Cooperation With The Medical Research Council
3. No Access To The Top Of and Under The Train
4. No Entry Or Exit Through the Train Windows
5. Giving The Platforms A Brighter Atmosphere
6. Platform Crawl Spaces and Other Infrastructural Interventions
7. Cost of Recovery
8. Understanding Autopsy Profiles
9. Murdered People Placed On Railway Track
10. Detective Skills To Deal With These Types of Murders
11. Stolen Railway Material
12. Fixing Malfunctioning Doors
13. Notice Against Opening of Train Doors
14. Implementing A Single Ticketing System
15. Informing Commuters About Train Delays
16. Barring Illegal Weapons On Trains
17. Differentiating Between Two Types of Train surfing
18. Grouping Passengers For Better Protection
19. Protection of Passengers And Easy Passage
20. Reversing Accidents Within The Available Infrastructure
21. Reduction of Last Minute Platform Changes
22. Provisions of A Help-line and Hotline
23. Regulation of Passengers Under The Influence of Alcohol
24. Distance Between Rail Tracks and Residential Areas
25. Partnerships in Educating About the Dangers of Train Surfing
26. Reverting Ticket Inspectors To Core Functions
27. Fare Evasion
28. Waiver of Claims Against Rail Companies
29. Discouragement of Train Surfing As A Sport
30. Prohibition Of Access To Operational Areas
31. Increasing Security Presence
32. Prevention of Smoking In Trains
33. Prevention of Gambling On Trains
34. Littering, Noise, Sermons, Spitting, Graffiti and Other Irritations
35. Cooperation between Alighting and Boarding Passengers
36. Cooperation with Professional Bodies
37. Psychological Services
38. Train Suicides To Be Considered As Self-inflicted
39. Continuing With Current Educations Programmes
40. Cooperation With The Media
41. Improvement of Train Scheduling
42. Reference To International Practices and Solutions
43. A Non-Class Approach To Anti-Train Surfing Solutions
44. Corporate Governance
45. Working In Conjunction With Feeder Services
46. Extensions of The Powers Of Arrest and Prosecution
47. Legal Review Of The Powers Of Arrest
48. The No Liability Clause and Discretion To Contribute To Funeral Costs of Victims
49. Review and Disaggregation Of The Legal Succession Act
50. The Right of Post -Transgression Arrest
51. Stakeholder Consultations
52. Advertising On Trains
53. Licensing Of Vendors Working In The Rail System
54. The role of the Regulator
 SCHEDULE

CHAPTER 1

DEFINITIONS AND APPLICATIONS OF THE ACT

Definitions

1. (1) In this Act, unless the context indicates to the contrary, the words and phrases used shall
mean the following:

“communities” shall mean a group of people made of such parents, but shall include civic
organizations, community-based organizations and other social movements;

“Constitution” shall mean the Constitution of The Republic of South Africa, 1996;

“Fare avoidance” shall mean an action whereby passengers use the rail system without them
paying for it or without the proper tickets;

“funerals” shall include all functions related to the deaths of people who train surf including
sermons, night vigils, so-called commemorations, unveilings etc.

“graffiti” shall refer to all illegal scribing on trains and their immediate surrounds. including
painting, writing and scrapping of walls and other infrastructure;

“kwelastaff” shall refer to the colloquial form of staff riding and the early beginnings of “train
surfing.”

“Minister” shall mean the Minister appointed by the President to be responsible for Transport in
terms of the Constitution;

“Ministers functions” shall mean those functions exercised in terms of Section 5 of the National
Land Transport Act;

“no liability” shall refer to the right of the state or the railway companies not to be charged or
claimed against them for the activities performed by train surfers and others;

“parents” shall refer to both biological and no biological parents of children so involved in train
surfing and shall include guardians, elderly people not related to the children and other people of
authority in the communities;
“person under train” shall mean all collisions between person and train that refers to frontal
collision and has an everlasting psychological impact on the train driver;

“rail companies” shall mean all operators who use rail tracks including passenger and freight
transportation, both state and privately owned;

“rail infrastructure” shall mean all forms of infrastructure that facilitate the operations of the
rail system and shall include rail tracks, stations, bridges, tunnels, platforms, turnstiles, ticket
sales offices, signalling system etc.
“rail property” shall mean the area beyond the rail tracks and shall include station buildings and
used land that vests in the rail companies or that is determined as the safe distance between the
rail system and the communities around it;

“rail service” means a public transport service operated on a rail track or any rail guiding
mechanism and includes light and heavy rail;

“registered manufacturer” means a manufacturer, importer or builder of motor vehicles

registered under section 5 of the National Road Traffic Act;

“rail tracks” shall mean the steel tracks and also the whole area where trains including their tilt
spaces;

“rail utility” shall mean the rail company that is state owned and shall refer specifically to
SARCC Metrorail or Shosholoza Meyl or Spoornet, PRASA (or any combination of these) and
all services that support their operations;

“Railway Police” shall mean the police who have been trained to patrol stations, to provide
security to passengers and the rail infrastructure and carry out all duties that will be allocated to
them but are separate from the security guards that may be employed for lesser responsibilities;

“security guards” shall refer to outsourced security personnel that will be employed to provide
backup services to the Railway Police;

“societies” shall refer to all cooperative efforts by members of the community to raise funds for
this or that purpose and shall include forms of stokvels;

“staff riding” shall include all activities of passengers that relate to riding or getting off the train
when it is in motion or has not stopped;

“stakeholder” shall mean all those who have an interest and wish to contribute to the alleviation
of the issues discussed in this paper;

“ticket inspectors” shall mean officials of the rail companies who are authorized to sell and
check the validity of train tickets used by commuters;

“Train-surfing”, shall mean an illegal stunt which involves clinging to the doors of a moving
train, getting on top of it and surfing it like wave-surfers;

“train drivers” shall mean competent people who are allowed to operate the locomotion of the
train and shall include assistant train drivers under training;

“train hopping” shall mean an illegal activity where unauthorised people jump on and off the
train (usually the goods train) without paying their fare;

“train suicide” shall mean all forms of self-inflicted murder including lying on the rail tracks and
jumping out of a moving train and throwing oneself in front of a train;

“train surfer” shall mean a person who engages in any of the activities described under train
surfing;
“train surfing” shall mean all forms of external stunts on the train whether they happen on top of
train coaches, through the window and under the carriage; and shall include all the regional
dialect names given to the stunts mentioned in this discussion document;

“train vendors” shall refer to all those who sell their wares to customers on the train while it is
in motion and off the train when commuters are waiting for the train;

Application of the Act

2. (1) The Act shall apply throughout the Republic of South Africa covering both South Africans
and foreign visitors and tourists who use the railway system.

(2) All charges, prosecution and sanction shall be weighed against the provisions of the
Children’s Act, 2005 in the event of the minors being found involved in the stunts.

(3) Despite the provision of any law to the contrary, this Act shall apply to all the passengers who
use the railway system, its infrastructure and property, both static and moving held in both public
and private ownership.

(4) All railways companies shall be obliged to adhere to the provisions of the Act, except when
they have obtained specific permission from the Railways Safety Regulator to deviate from some
sections of the Act.

CHAPTER 2

IMPLEMENTATION CLAUSES

Constitutionality of the Policy Proposals

3. (1)The Act shall not supersede the letter and spirit of the constitution, and to the extent that
railway entities and service providers shall be required to implement the policy, they shall not
compromise the following constitutional principles, among others:
(a) The freedom of association;
(b) The freedom of religion;
(c) The railway companies’ rights to reserved admission to their trains;
(d) The children’s right to education;
(e) The children’s and the citizen’s right to protection by the State; and
(f) The railway companies right to fair and unhindered trade.

Cooperation With The Medical Research Council

4. (1) In order to deal with the issue of under-reporting and the unreliability of statistics, the
railway companies, shall work with the Medical Research Centre (MRC) to establish an
independent and stand-alone railway injury and mortality surveillance system.

(2) In addition to working hand in glove with the MRC, and in order to facilitate a more nuanced
understanding of the problem, the rail companies shall release into the public domain all
information related to the problems of train surfing, suicide and related matters.
No Access To The Top Of and Under The Train

5. (1) Except for authorised technical and maintenance safety, medical and emergency personnel,
access to the roof of the train is prohibited. Any passenger who is found on top of or under a train
shall be guilty of an offence and shall be charged for such an office for self-endangerment.

(2) Except for authorized personnel, no passenger shall be allowed to use the adjoining space
between two coaches. If there is a need for the passenger to move between coaches, he or she
shall take the minimum time available to be in the adjoining parts of the railway coaches.

(3) Any other form of train surfing other than the usual one of riding on top of the train shall be
unlawful. There shall be efforts to gently persuade those who practice this activity away from it
through benign interventions, it shall be the prerogative of the railway company or operator with
the assistance of the Railway Police to arrest those who are caught.

No Entry Or Exit Through Train Windows

6. (1) Even when the train is not in motion, entry and exit through the window is not allowed.
Entry through the window of stationary or moving train shall be considered an offence unless
authorised by a railways official in the event of doors not been operational or authorized by a
safety official in the event of an accident or emergency.

(2) It shall be the obligation of the railway companies to fix all malfunctioning windows and also
to fix all broken panes. In the intervening period between the breakage or the malfunctioning, the
railway companies shall devise means of alerting passengers to such a defect.

Giving The Platforms A Brighter Atmosphere

7. (1) In instances where the psychological approaches shall be decided upon, the railway
companies shall engage with experts on the need for giving platforms a brighter atmosphere and
installing more lights at the ends of the platforms as experts consider experts consider this as
deterrents to those who seek to “train surf” or contemplate suicide.

Platform Crawl Spaces and Other Infrastructural Interventions

8. (1) In instances of infrastructural design, the companies shall work with platform engineers to
have sufficient crawl spaces in platforms so that when passenger sand users incidentally fall into
the rail tracks in stations, they can find space for safety.
(2) To reverse the number of people who fall between the platform and the train when boarding
and alighting, rail companies shall consider minor infrastructural interventions on a case-by-case
basis.

(3) The rail companies shall standardize their specifications for the construction of platforms to
suit all train sets, and where necessary, retrofitting shall be considered on a case-by-case basis.

(4) The rail companies shall draw yellow lines at all platforms behind which train passengers
should stand while they are waiting for their trains, and before the train comes to complete halt
for boarding, and beyond which they should stand once they have alighted from the train.
Cost of Recovery

9. (1) The rail companies shall evolve a discretionary policy where in the event of the train
suicide, the cost of recovery and delays to the companies shall have to be claimed from the estate
of or from the families of the victims.

(2) In such instances where passengers get injured or killed while trying to help others, the rail
companies may revoke all measures of cost recovery, and use the incident to promote passenger
camaraderie and solidarity, in conjunction with commuter organizations.

(3) In the instance of suicide, there shall be a need to strengthen the anti-suicide programmes in
collaboration with other psychological and social work institutions.

(4) Railway companies shall have the authority to remove bodies found on their railway tracks if
such bodies constitute a violation of their operations. All the details of such removal to allow the
flow of operations shall be recorded and handed to the medico-legal teams or to the investigating
officers who shall first arrive at the scene.

Understanding Autopsy Profiles

10. (1) The rail companies shall co-operate with all police, medical and investigative agencies, in
and outside the rail companies to understand the autopsy profiles, and causes and the mitigation
aspects of the incidents and accidents in the rail network system.

(2) Resources permitting, railway companies shall develop their capacities to conduct their
autopsy profiles to relieve the medic-legal authorities of the enormous pressures to deal with this
function for the rest of the citizens.

(3) This shall be done provided that such capacities has been imparted by, and shall be
continuously be monitored and audited by the medico-legal authorities in the given railway
jurisdiction.

(4) A Memorandum of Understanding shall be signed between the railway companies and the
health authorities to effect such a relationship.

Murdered People Placed On Railway Track

11. (1) In the case of people who are murdered elsewhere and then placed on railway tracks, the
rail companies shall engage with the police and the justice officials to recoup their cost as a result
of the accident from those found guilty of such offences.

(2) The railway companies shall have no obligation to arrange for funerals, compensation or any
other form of relief for people who were found murdered on the rail system and or railway
properties.

Detective Skills To Deal With These Types of Murders

12. (1) Rail companies shall equip the Railway police with the necessary training and expertise to
differentiate between the people who commit train suicides and those who are placed on railway
tracks to confuse the police investigations.
(2) The appropriate police authorities shall make the final decision and pronouncement as to the
actual causes of death of people found on the railway tracks.

Stolen Railway Material

13. (1) The rail companies shall also reserve the right of prosecution for people who are found
with the material or equipment belonging to the companies, even when they did not commit the
act, or when individuals are using the property and or material at a later date, or are found to be
selling the railway companies’ material and property.

(2) The rail companies shall work with the South African Police in the prosecution of criminals
who remove technological equipment and cabling and to continue to procure materials, such as
fibre optic, and remote wireless variations to render an efficient and uninterrupted service to our
customers.

Fixing Malfunctioning Doors

14. (1) To reduce the possibility of open doors, either through manipulation or maintenance
breaches, the rail companies shall repair all doors that are not working properly, and shall also
strengthen the door closing mechanisms for all trains over time.

(2) If the problems persist, the rail company may have to allocate come doors as exit doors, and
others as entry doors, or certain coaches and entry coaches and other coaches as exit coaches
depending on the circumstances.

Notice Against Opening of Train Doors

15. (1) In their posters on train coaches particularly near the door themselves, rail companies shall
issue notices in the most used language of passengers which should indicate the following:
(a) No person shall open a train door while the train is in motion;
(b) Only a train door shall be used for entering or exiting the train;
(c) No person shall impede the functioning of the door.

(2) It shall be a punishable offence to disable the mechanism that operates the closing of the train
doors and any other mechanism that guarantees the safety of commuters.
(3) Notices should be fairly spread in the coaches so that they do not result in Notice clutter
which may confuse passengers and therefore fail to relay the correct message.

Implementing A Single Ticketing System

16. (1) The rail companies shall work with other companies in other modes of transport to fast-
track the implementation of the single ticketing system.

(2) In order to evolve an efficient single ticketing system for all modes of transportation which
shall be part of the single ticketing system, the rail companies shall institute a policy that shall
make it an offence to alter or deface a ticket.

(3) All companies involved in the single ticketing system shall bar ticket touting and/or selling of
tickets other than at designated ticket sale points. Railway ticket sales should be extended to
selling points beyond the actual railway stations to include private vendors and the use of ICT
platforms.

(4) The rail companies shall reserve the rights of refusing the use of tickets which in their view
have been defaced, have been altered or have been obtained contrary to the procedures and
methods pre-determined by the rail companies and the ticket sale providers.

(5) The railway companies shall continue to have the right to confiscate tickets which in their
view were fraudulently obtained to prevent the widespread malpractice of fake tickets.

(6) The rail companies shall incrementally introduce scanning systems that shall enhance the
“readability” of tickets to reduce time spent on ticket inspection.

Informing Commuters About Train Delays

17. (1)The railway companies shall inform all their stakeholders ahead of time, in the areas’ most
spoken language of the delays that may be caused by the improvements that are brought into the
rail system to promote commuter safety and punctuality.

(2) As a future consideration and improvement of the companies’ services, the rail companies
shall explore announcements from a central point, such as the driver, indicating that the train shall
close its doors in a pre-determined number of seconds.

Barring Illegal Weapons On Trains

18. (1) The rail companies shall continue with their posting of notices which display items,
particularly weaponry that should not be carried on trains. It shall also develop a prevention
regime for people who carry these weapons from entering the station or boarding the trains.

(2) Passengers who carry licensed should prepare for the announced inspections of those licenses
even when they are on railway property or in trains. All passengers shall subject themselves to
random searches that may be carried out by the appropriate officials.

Differentiating Between Two Types of Train-Surfing

19. (1) In their punishment regime, the rail companies shall differentiate between crime-induced
train surfing (running away from criminal activity within the coaches) and thrill-induced
“spectacle” surfing.

(2) The rail companies shall refer the crime induced train surfing to the relevant police
authorities, and emphasize rehabilitation for the thrill-driven train surfers. In instances where the
train surfers have formed themselves in gangs, and are operating in areas of criminality wider
than train surfing the police authorities shall deal with the issues in the normal manner they
execute their responsibilities to gang-related crimes.

(3) Together with other issues for legal reviews, the rail companies shall issue a list of offences
on the train and determine their minimum and maximum punishments. This list and the
discussions around them should be done in conjunction with the commuter organizations.
Grouping Passengers For Better Protection

20. (1) The rail companies shall impress on the Railway Police to perform their duties of stopping
crime, but where necessary, to group the vulnerable passengers in common coaches so as to be
able to protect them better and collectively.

(2) The rail companies shall mount CCTVs at vantage points to assist in the identification of
would-be train surfers and suicide attempters, and integrate these within the area city-wide
surveillance systems. On a shared basis, railway companies should also reciprocate the
information with the area and city-wide surveillance system.

Protection of Passengers And Easy Passage

21. (1) The rail companies shall ensure that when passengers are in platforms waiting for their
trains, they shall be provided with the best available security. When they have to connect to other
trains or other modes of transport, or their security is under threat, the best evacuation procedures,
and the best train or other mode connection shall be afforded to them.

Reversing Accidents Within The Available Infrastructure

22. (1) To the extent that not all crossing points can be provided with bridges, and that even
where these are provided there shall always be passengers who shall ignore, the rail companies
shall continue to strengthen their efforts to reverse the rate of accidents by promoting the use of
bridges.

(2) The rail companies shall also reduce the number of vendors and beggars on railway bridges to
facilitate the smooth movement of commuters from one station platform to another and to and
from other modes of transportation to other modes of transportation.

(3) In stations where bridges are available, and where necessary, the rail companies shall consider
erecting fences between railway tracks to force train commuters to use bridges provided.

Reduction of Last Minute Platform Changes

23. (1) The rail companies shall reduce the number of last-minute platform changes which force
many commuters to cross the tracks rather than use the provided bridges where these exist.

Provisions of A Help-line and Hotline

24. (1) An association of rail operators shall sponsor a help-line where suicide-prone citizens can
phone through for advice on their problems that may drive them to the railway tracks.

(2) There shall be the maximum promotion of the usage of the hotline (0800 210081) where
people who are already spotted on the railway tracks, with suicide intentions or not, shall be
reported.
Regulation of Passengers Under The Influence of Alcohol

25. (1) The rail companies shall empower the turnstile controllers, the ticket collectors and the
Railway Police to bar access to drunk train passengers who are likely to cause harm to themselves
and/or to other passengers and/or to the rail infrastructure.

(2) Where possible, the restraining of the passengers may have to be reconsidered if he or she is
travelling with other sober passengers, or the railway companies may have to detain a passenger
to “cool off” and take the next train.

(3) The rail companies shall prohibit the drinking of alcohol, or the use of intoxicating and
hallucinating drugs. These offences shall be punishable by laws that related to offences under
public drinking.

(4) In luxury trains where proper bar facilities are provided, the drinking of alcohol shall be
allowed, but the railway companies shall have the right to restrain passengers who cause
discomfort to others as a result of the use of these facilities.

(5) Train vendors shall not be allowed to trade in alcohol on and off the train. Railway police
shall confiscate all alcohol traded in their trains.

Distance Between Rail Tracks and Residential Areas

26. (1) The rail companies shall work with zoning and planning authorities to determine the
required distance between the rail tracks and the residential areas and to continue with education
an awareness campaigns to highlight the dangers of children playing on or residents near the
railway tracks.

(2) The rail companies shall work in close relationship with the Department of Land Affairs and
Rural Development to be absolved from the provisions of legislation that prevent evictions of
settlements if those settlements are posing dangers to the communities concerned in respect of rail
accidents and incidents.

Partnerships in Educating About the Dangers of Train Surfing

27. (1) The rail companies shall work with education authorities, teacher organizations,
community based organizations (CBOs), Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), Schools,
Governing Bodies (SGBs) organized labour, organized student organizations, and security and
police structures to assist in psychological counseling of students and to advocate against train
surfing and train suicide.

(2) The efforts that have been started by some rail companies to educate youngsters shall
continue, and shall be modified from time to time to respond to new and unforeseen challenges.

(3) The rail companies shall encourage elderly commuters to persuade youngsters from involving
themselves in dangerous activities while on board the train.
(4) The rail companies shall liaise with train vendors about the role that the latter could play in
promoting the anti-surfing policy and how to maximise their business expansion within the rail
system.

Reverting Ticket Inspectors To Core Functions

28. (1) The rail companies shall evolve an operational strategy which encompasses the separation
of duties to ensure that the ticket examiners concentrate on their core function, while their
voluntary “constabulary” roles shall be relinquished to the railway police.

(2) Ticket inspectors shall have to restructure their ticket checking system so that they counteract
passenger who coach hop which may lead the fare evading passenger to train surf.

Fare Evasion

29. (1) It shall be a criminal offence for any passenger to board a train without a valid ticket, and
all aspects of fare evasion shall be considered to be criminal offences and shall be punishable by
law. It shall be the prerogative of the railway company to fine the transgressor or to lay criminal
charges.

(2) The train tickets shall not be exchanged between passengers on a train for the same trip. The
railway companies shall have the right to invalidate and nullify tickets which are interchanged.

Waiver of Claims Against Rail Companies

30. (1) The rail companies shall reserve their right not to be claimed in the event of such train
incidents such as train-surfing and train suicides, including any claims from insurances and burial
societies.

(2) The railway companies shall work with the relevant authorities in debating the merits and/or
the demerits of the “Rail Accident Fund” with a view of establishing one such Fund with the least
demands to the National Revenue Fund;

(3) Claims shall not be waived if it is clear that the train accidents and incidents were as a result
of negligence from the side of the railway companies or their employees.

Discouragement of Train Surfing As A Sport

31. (1) In their communication strategies, the rail companies shall, discourage the view of train
surfing as a sport and to encourage its view as a dangerous activity which can lead to people
losing their lives, and an illegal activity which leads to prosecution.

Prohibition Of Access To Operational Areas

32. (1) Security personnel shall be given powers to prohibit passengers from movement in certain
operational areas, and all access points shall be opened by and in the presence of a security
official employed by, authorised by or known to the rail companies.
Increasing Security Presence

33. (1) Rail operators shall arrive at a consensus decision as to whether it shall be in their
financial and security interests to allow any security or police force member to ride on the train
for free to increase the security presence. E
Prevention of Smoking In Trains

34 (1) The railway companies shall consider the issue of smoking, and where possible, assign
certain train coaches as non-smoking coaches. The companies shall also persuade the train
vendors not to sell cigarettes in non-smoking coaches.

(2) The rail companies shall also engage with health authorities to declare of stations as public
places. They shall study the no smoking regime that applies to the inside of the airports and in
aeroplanes, with due consideration to the fact that a train ride may take longer than a flight, and as
such some relaxation to the no-smoking regime may require some reconfiguration.

(3) The rail companies shall also have health posters including non-smoking announcements in
train ablution facilities where most social smokers are likely to smoke. In order to have maximum
impact, the companies shall work with anti-smoking lobbies and may also consider the reduction
of costs of posting adverts in trains if these posters and adverts shall have a long-term benefit to
the health of the nation.

(4) The rail companies shall empower the Railway Police to extend their powers of arrest to
include arresting passengers for smoking and taking drugs and using banned substances while on
a train.

(5) As part of their social responsibility programmes, the rail companies shall promote non-
smoking campaigns, and support anti-tobacco organizations particularly to discourage smoking
among child passengers.

Prevention of Gambling On Trains

35. (1) The rail companies shall also not allow the soliciting of bets on the train such as those
under the regime of “fafee” bets, dice gambling and the train shall not be used as payment points
for this type of gambling.

(2) The railway companies shall prohibit all forms of gambling on the train, but encourage the
playing of games that shall increase the social interaction between and among passengers while
they are in transit, as long as such games do not impinge on the freedom and rights of other
passengers

Littering, Noise, Sermons, Spitting, Graffiti and Other Irritations

36. (1) As it relates to loudness, spitting, foul language, the railway companies shall appeal to
passengers through posters in coaches or at all railway stations to desist from such activities,
largely because it irritates other passengers.

(2) In relation to playing music so loud that it disturbs other passengers’ comfort, the rail
companies shall encourage passengers to use earphones, but not be obliged to provide the
passengers with electrical power to play their instruments.
(3) In trains that shall have been fitted with the required power points, the passenger shall be
allowed to have access to plug in and play their music.

(4) The playing of music shall not include the playing of guitars, drums and other acoustic
instruments, but shall be limited to music gadgets that shall be listened to through the earphones
of the users, such as cellular phones, iPads, MP3’s, tape recorders with earphones etc.

(5) In relation to the services and sermons and preaching, and in spite of the powers vested in the
rail companies in terms of the Legal Succession Act to deal with this issue when there are
complaints, the rail companies shall allow the train worshippers to use certain train coaches for
worship.

(6) In the case of littering, the companies shall consider providing refuse plastic bags for all
coaches and encourage passengers to use these instead of littering on the trains and throwing used
and unwanted articles through windows.

Cooperation between Alighting and Boarding Passengers

37. (1) In addition to other measures that shall reduce the lateness and the overcrowding which
have been mentioned in this Act, the rail companies shall appeal to boarding passengers to allow
alighting passenger to have the right of way, and also to appeal to train drivers to ascertain
whether all passengers that are supposed to board the train have done so.

(2) Railway companies shall post notices on their trains that shall allow elderly, aged and
passengers with disabilities to be given preference when either alighting or boarding the trains,
ensuring there is provision for the needs of special categories of passengers in planning and
providing public transport infrastructure, as required by the National Land Transport Act, 2009.

Cooperation with Professional Bodies

38. (1) The railway companies shall compile a profile of attempted suicide and train surfers in
conjunction with the psychological institutions and professionals so as to understand the mindset
of the people who engage in these activities.

(2) The railway companies shall also work with Social Workers to understand the social aspects
of train surfers and train suicides.

(3) Parents and communities shall play their role in identifying potential train suicide cases and
take the necessary steps to try and prevent them or call for the necessary professional assistance.

Psychological Services

39. (1) To mitigate these psychological effects on the train drivers, the companies shall continue
to offer psychological services such as debriefings to train drivers and the necessary support to
the drivers’ families.

(2) These psychological services shall also be extended to train assistants and other railway
personnel who might have been affected by any of the accidents and incidents.
(3) In the event that some passengers might have assisted in and affected psychologically by the
incident and accidents, railway companies shall consider whether they can include these
passengers in the provision of psychological services.

Train Suicides To Be Considered As Self-inflicted.

40. (1) The rail companies shall categorize the deaths and injuries in suicides and attempted
suicides on the train and on rail tracks as self-inflicted death and/or injury and shall not enter into
further debates about the issue save to the companies’ discretion to assist bereaved families.

(2) The rail companies shall liaise with one another about how to solve the issue of compensation
for commuters who assist other passengers in the event of a tragedy or an accident. Such
assistance shall be considered in line with s39 (3) of this Act

Continuing With Current Educations Programmes

41. (1) The rail companies shall continue with existing educational programmes and extend them
throughout the operational areas of the companies.

(2) All new entrants into the rail business, in terms of third party access, shall have to evaluate the
educational programme offered by the current rail utilities and to determine if this should be
continued. Modifications to the current educational programmes shall be extended and only be
modified to cater for the specific needs of the new entrants.

Cooperation With The Media

42. (1) The rail companies shall work closely with the media, ensuring that they issue the media
access to their information which shall help to reverse the trends of train surfing and train
suicides.

(2) The rail companies shall also issue periodic press releases about their challenges and
successes in fighting these scourges which are the subjects of this document.

Improvement of Train Scheduling

43. (1) The rail companies shall improve their train scheduling, and increased punctuality levels
to the required standards and to avoid the cancellation of trains when they are most needed,
particularly at peak hour times.

(2) The rail companies shall update their scheduling and routing systems, and where possible,
these should be replaced with the available new technologies in this field.

Reference To International Practices and Solutions

44. (1) The rail companies shall study how international rail entities, in the same income group
but with a bigger population cope with the challenges of train surfing.

(2) The railway passenger companies shall appraise themselves of the co-operation between the
Canadian Government and rail safety authorities in South Africa, particularly as it relates to the
safety of the public, personnel and railway property.
A Non-Class Approach To Anti-Train Surfing Solutions

45. (1) The rail companies shall categorize all train surfing violations, train suicides, fare
avoidance, throwing people off the trains, using rail as decoys for murders committed elsewhere
etc. as illegal offences under the rail system, irrespective of the class categorization and the place
origin of the people involved.

Corporate Governance

46. (1) As corporate citizens, the rail companies shall be obliged to obey the court directives
while reserving their full rights under the law to challenge what it considers to be to the detriment
of their interests.

(2) All records of the number of deaths injuries, compensations and costs incurred as a result of
the implementation of this policy shall form part and parcel of their annual reports and financial
statements of the railway companies.

Working In Conjunction With Feeder Services

47. (1) The rail companies shall work in conjunction with the feeder services so that proper
transfer times, lead times etc. can be worked out for the intermodal and multi-modal
synchronization of public transport.

Extensions of The Powers Of Arrest and Prosecution

48. (1) The rail companies shall apply to the relevant judicial authorities for the extension of the
powers allocated in certain areas of their operations to all areas of the country.

Legal Review Of The Powers Of Arrest

49. (1) The Department of Transport, in conjunction with the State legal apparatus, and the rail
companies shall work towards a legal position for the powers of arrest, claims and all legal
positions attached to the issues of train accidents and incidents.

The No Liability Clause and Discretion To Contribute To Funeral Costs of Victims

50. (1) The rail companies shall not be liable for any claims from:

(a) Any injuries and deaths emanating from an individual’s decision to surf the train or its
related misbehaviours such as “staff riding”:
(b) Any injuries and deaths that arise as a result of suicide and or attempted suicide;
(c) Any deaths or injuries sustained or deaths that result from people being thrown off trains;
(d) Any “second murders” that result from already murdered people being placed on railway
tracks as a decoy to hide the crime.

(2) In spite of the no liability policy, the rail companies shall reserve the right to determine in
their own discretion and on compassionate grounds, whether it can contribute to the funeral costs
of people who so die in train accidents and incidents.
Review and Disaggregation Of The Legal Succession Act

51.(1) The Department of Transport shall review the Legal Succession To the South African
Transport Services Act and its amendments to ascertain whether it is relevant to the rail
operations which are evolving post the passing of the act.

(2) The Department of Transport shall also consider the breaking up of the Omnibus Act and to
develop a number of relevant acts that shall best form the legislative basis for the operations of
the rail services into the future.
(3) The Department of Transport shall start a process of separate legislation for rail commuter
service, so that independent of its previous attachment to the holding company, Transnet, the
restructured company can
(a) evolve its own independent funding mechanism;
(b) suggest a new and viable subsidization formula;
(c) operate from its own balance sheet;
(d) negotiate its own right of way to new destinations;
(e) purchase its own rolling stock; and
(f) engage in rapid rail mechanisms with operations of the same nature.

The Right of Post -Transgression Arrest

53. (1) The Railway Police shall have the right to arrest offenders even post-transgression, and
shall be allowed to visit the parents of students who are involved in these unwelcome activities.

Stakeholder Consultations

54. (1) The Department of Transport shall engage all stakeholders in the development of the rail
policies and/or regulations and/or legislation that deal with train surfing, train suicides and other
related matters.

(2) Because of the urgent need for implementation, the Department shall prioritize consultation of
high-risk areas and with institutions and stakeholders that shall contribute significantly to this
policy implementation.

Advertising On Trains

55. (1) All advertisements or display for publicity or bill posting on the train shall be under the
regulation of the Rail Companies and proper procedures for the placing, and the purchase of train
space shall be followed by prospective billposters and advertisers and publicity companies.

Licensing Of Vendors Working In The Rail System

56. (1) The rail companies shall try to offset their cost of operations through leveraging a limited
license fee from vendors and other users of the rail system.

The role of the Regulator

57. (1) The above provisions shall not absolve the railway companies from their obligations to,
and the prevalence of the instructions and sanctions from the Rail Safety Regulator. In the event
that there is a grey area, between this piece of legislation and the RSR, the RSR shall prevail.