A viral Instagram clip has Los Angeles transit officials shaking their heads after capturing two people clinging to the outside of a Metro D Line train as it travels through the Mid-Wilshire tunnels. For roughly 21 minutes, one rider sits on the very front of the train while another hangs on along the side before both climb down at a station and casually walk away. Transit watchers warn the stunt was not just reckless, it could easily have been deadly.
Video shows riders on D Line’s exterior
The video, posted to Instagram and widely shared, was obtained and published by the New York Post, which reports it shows one person perched on the front of a moving D Line train and another clinging to the outside as it runs through the Mid-Wilshire stretch. As reported by the New York Post, the clip ends at a Mid-Wilshire station, where both riders climb down and walk away, and a commenter claiming to be a train operator calls the stunt “absolutely reckless.”
Why transit officials are alarmed
Transit agencies have been warning for years that so-called subway surfing, riding on the outside of trains, can lead to severe injury or death, and some have mounted public-safety campaigns to head off copycat social media stunts. New York authorities, for example, rolled out a "Subway Surfing Kills - Ride Inside, Stay Alive" campaign to highlight the danger, as outlined by the NYC Mayor’s Office. Academic research has also tied increases in train-surfing incidents to viral social posts and documented patterns of high-voltage trauma and other catastrophic injuries linked to the practice, as reported by ScienceDirect.
Why the new D Line matters
Section 1 of the Metro D Line extension opened on May 8, 2026, adding three underground stations along Wilshire Boulevard and bringing new service through the Mid-Wilshire corridor, according to LA Metro. The opening drew extensive local coverage, including reporting from CBS Los Angeles, and the Instagram clip underscores how quickly a high-profile new rail segment can turn into a backdrop for risky behavior. Transit officials say the timing is particularly troubling because the extension is meant to serve as a heavily used corridor for museum visitors and daily commuters.
Metro rules and possible penalties
Metro’s Customer Code of Conduct explicitly bans “attaching to, hanging from, or riding on any part of the outside of a Metro vehicle” and notes that violators can be ejected, fined, or excluded from the system, as detailed in the Metro Customer Code of Conduct. The policy also states that behavior that breaks state law or creates safety risks can be referred to transit police and pursued as criminal trespass. Transit-safety experts point to immediate hazards such as falls between cars, collisions with tunnel walls, and contact with the electrified power supply, risks documented in technical and medical literature and summarized by sources including public transport references.
How riders can respond
Metro urges riders who witness dangerous behavior on or near trains to report it to station staff or local law enforcement instead of encouraging it with likes, shares, or cheers from the platform. Viral clips can serve as evidence of wrongdoing, but public-safety officials say the best way to cut down on copycat stunts is to report what you see, discourage participation, and let transit authorities handle enforcement and investigations.
