Vandalism/ASB getting worse on the railways?

[Runningaround]

If it gets left and ignored for 200 years it'll be considered historic and get preserved.

 

[TheSeeker]

Graffiti isn't what it used to be!

"PRINCESS ANNE IS ALREADY MARRIED TO VALERIE SINGLETON".

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Can you dye concrete before pouring/casting? A new bridge coloured green or brown in a rural setting might not be so obtrusive. Or more interesting in other colours in a city center.

 

[Runningaround]

"PRINCESS ANNE IS ALREADY MARRIED TO VALERIE SINGLETON".

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Can you dye concrete before pouring/casting? A new bridge coloured green or brown in a rural setting might not be so obtrusive. Or more interesting in other colours in a city center.

You can paint them, I'm sure some Graffiti artists would welcome a Network Rail Painter and Decorators Apprenticeship.

 

[Gloster]

Far away is close at hand in images of elsewhere was written on a wall outside Paddington in the 1970s and stayed there for several years before demolition. It was recreated in the 1990s.

 

[HST274]

The most annoying is the crap that gets put on motorway bridges, some of which, as I recall from a few years ago, was pasted up on posters by some sort of religious cult.
I guess graffiti is just another annoyance we have to tolerate, a bit like fly tipping and litter dropping.

That's the stuff I think SHOULD be tagged. Motorways are endless lines of concrete. Any tag or 'art piece' is better than a plain grey or white wall.
As for Banksy, I think he does good work...

 

[freddie1729]

That's the stuff I think SHOULD be tagged. Motorways are endless lines of concrete. Any tag or 'art piece' is better than a plain grey or white wall.
As for Banksy, I think he does good work...

I disagree, plain grey or white is much better than most graffiti.

 

[greyman42]

Sadly even if the vandals get caught, they know they won't receive a meaningful punishment by the time they go in front of a judge.

The problem is that it will not get as far as a judge, just a magistrate.

 

[Chriso]

While at Kings Cross yesterday I noticed the DDS crew had renovated the westbound Met/Circle/H&C platform

 

[al78]

The trouble is, you really can't differentiate between 'good' grafitti and the rest of it, as it's entirely subjective. It remains vandalism and criminal damage, that doesn't change based on the finished result or the identity of the vandal.

Yes you can based on collective public opinion, in the same way someone can be labelled attractive or ugly (some people are much better at attracting the opposite sex than others), scenery can be said to be beautiful or ugly (why is the Scottish highlands a popular place to visit for both UK and overseas tourists?), and someone can be labeled a nice or unpleasant person (e.g. Princess Diana and Harold Shipman). If Banksy did not have such talent and his graffiti/artwork was not outstanding he would not have been able to stimulate the public to the extent he has managed, and his artwork would not have significant monetary value attached to it. Things that stimulate positive emotions tend to be seen as good, and vice versa.

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I disagree, plain grey or white is much better than most graffiti.

Probably not desirable to have graffiti on motorway bridges which could distract drivers.

 

[Towers]

Yes you can based on collective public opinion, in the same way someone can be labelled attractive or ugly (some people are much better at attracting the opposite sex than others), scenery can be said to be beautiful or ugly (why is the Scottish highlands a popular place to visit for both UK and overseas tourists?), and someone can be labeled a nice or unpleasant person (e.g. Princess Diana and Harold Shipman). If Banksy did not have such talent and his graffiti/artwork was not outstanding he would not have been able to stimulate the public to the extent he has managed, and his artwork would not have significant monetary value attached to it. Things that stimulate positive emotions tend to be seen as good, and vice versa.

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Probably not desirable to have graffiti on motorway bridges which could distract drivers.

I disagree; you can't differentiate on the principle - it is all vandalism, and it is all illeagal, and I don't think we really want to be deciding by subjective opinion which acts of vandalism should be celebrated and which should be washed off!

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Far away is close at hand in images of elsewhere was written on a wall outside Paddington in the 1970s and stayed there for several years before demolition. It was recreated in the 1990s.

Yes- well remembered - (and quite thoughtfull graffitti) - and there was another one on the Hammersmith and City approaching Ladbroke Grave about "sleep, work , eat etc - : based on the French "Metro, Boulot , Dodo" - which had a long life until eventually removed.


Personally hate moronic tagging and graffiti vandalism - spent a fair amount of my work life combatting it , - but there are a few gems around.

"Kilroy was here - Vote Robson in 66 - G Davis is innocent" - some of the older ones.

 

[MP33]

On the Railway Bridge across the North Circular at Stonebridge Park. It was in 10 foot high letters and there for over 20 years. M Khan is bent ok.

 

[Gloster]

Some years ago, probably in the 1970s, on three consecutive bridges over the M4 facing London-bound traffic was: GOOD - MORNING - LEMMINGS

 

[John Luxton]

gullible folk stopped falling for the Banksy nonsense that would also help!

Not helped by the media that appears to have put Banksy on some sort of pedestal.

It is about time this individual was identified and prosecuted. His/her works should not be given a cash value as they now appear to attract.

 

[Towers]

Not helped by the media that appears to have put Banksy on some sort of pedestal.

It is about time this individual was identified and prosecuted. His/her works should not be given a cash value as they now appear to attract.

Couldn't agree more.

Seems to have made a very lucrative career out of sending people out to stencil things onto walls, for gullible folk to go and fawn over. It's all a tad baffling, and you have to wonder if he'd be even vaguely as well known if it wasn't for the 'annonymous' nonsense.

 

[MML]

I'd erect a set of stocks on the concourse at King's Cross with the culprits inside. A placard telling commuters how much the railway spends annually on cleaning graffiti and an indication how much that equates to adding to the cost of a season ticket.
A few cans of spray paint for use by those wanting revenge...call it rough justice

 

[102 fan]

Far away is close at hand in images of elsewhere was written on a wall outside Paddington in the 1970s and stayed there for several years before demolition. It was recreated in the 1990s.

I remember that when I travelled on that line. Is it still there?

 

[Backroom_boy]

This opinion might not go down too well, but I like seeing all the trackside graffiti on the railways around London. I think it brightens the place up and provides added interest to a journey. That said, I don't condone breaking the law, and before anyone says it - if someone came and sprayed a tag on my house I wouldn't like it... unless it was Banksy in which case I'd sell it!

Tag is just a tag; usually some alpha-numerical combined symbol showing the 'street' ID of the taggee. Nothing artistic at all imho, and a long way from satirical drawings of Banksie et al.

 

[satisnek]

I think that the problem we are talking about here is late-1970s New York pop-art - which came across the Atlantic in the mid-1980s - as opposed to simple graffiti at one extreme and traditional, commissioned artwork at the other. And it has never gone away. I guess that we'll just have to lump it together with rap 'music', baseball caps worn back-to-front, torn jeans, men with earrings, silly haircuts, black American speech patterns, skateboards, BMX bikes and, catching up fast, the hoodie. The simple fact is that 21st century teenagers are too stupid to think of original means of rebelling against society.

 

[AlterEgo]

Similar feeling here. I advocate the vandalism of property.

Fixed it for you. Shame I couldn’t actually edit your post in situ as that’s what vandalism is.

Anyone advocating illegal graffiti must, before making any statement, hand over their most prized possession to me. I will then write in it whatever I like, and give it back to you. Deal?

 

[northwichcat]

One thing we can do as enthusiasts is not to share pictures of tagged trains on social media. Don't give those who do the graffiti "the oxygen of publicity".

If you're able to, you could Photoshop out the graffiti and give it a caption including the date it was taken when uploading it.

 

[Peter0124]

The inside of the footbridge over Shieldmuir station is covered in graffiti, it really is a shame.

 

[Falcon1200]

I'm not keen on graffiti either, but I recall someone in Oxford had sprayed onto a wall 'Always think ahead'; The letters of 'ahead' had had to be squeezed together to fit on the wall......

 

[350401]

It is definitely getting worse in SE London. South Eastern regularly stable an 8 car 465 at Bromley North, and it’s always getting tagged. Someone sprayed a bunch of swear words all over 465929 on Wednesday, I reported it, SE in their wisdom turned the unit around so the non graffitied side faced the platform, rather than send it for cleaning, and today, it too is now covered in the exact same words.

 

[Turtle]

I think that the problem we are talking about here is late-1970s New York pop-art - which came across the Atlantic in the mid-1980s - as opposed to simple graffiti at one extreme and traditional, commissioned artwork at the other. And it has never gone away. I guess that we'll just have to lump it together with rap 'music', baseball caps worn back-to-front, torn jeans, men with earrings, silly haircuts, black American speech patterns, skateboards, BMX bikes and, catching up fast, the hoodie. The simple fact is that 21st century teenagers are too stupid to think of original means of rebelling against society.

What makes you think they are teenagers? From what I have read many appear to be considerably older. There are also groups who travel the world to indulge their criminality.

 

[mmh]

The trouble is, you really can't differentiate between 'good' grafitti and the rest of it, as it's entirely subjective. It remains vandalism and criminal damage, that doesn't change based on the finished result or the identity of the vandal.

As for Banksy, ugghh....

How does local authority authorised or funded "graffiti" / "street art" / etc fit into an inability to differentiate?

 

[satisnek]

What makes you think they are teenagers? From what I have read many appear to be considerably older. There are also groups who travel the world to indulge their criminality.

You're right - I was astounded when I read about blokes in their 20s and 30s - who presumably think that they're actually in late-1970s New York - being arrested for this. But I can't believe that the 'pros' are responsible for all the tagging in smaller provincial cities and towns - it has got to be kids imitating them.

 

[Gostav]

In Czechia such offenses can lead to a year in prison.

 

[name_required]

The problem is that it will not get as far as a judge, just a magistrate.

Magistrates can still send people to prison, but it’s not unusual for railway graffiti cases to go to the Crown Court, e.g. this one in London and this one on Wales. Given it’s a non-violent offence with a corporate victim (both of which typically mean offences are seen as less serious), the courts take railway graffiti cases fairly seriously.

 

[86206]

Graffiti in some form has been around for many many years, and now more than ever is relevant on both infrastructure & stock.(Even when stock is coming into the country! See the TFW recent vandalism). It wont go away sadly & even with the highest sharpest fences or cameras with extra cameras on top, if someone wants to vandalise a train then they will do it. Oh and just a thought on Banksy & other more predominant "artists": Considering his talent with a stencil, and the fact his "installations" (as they have been called in the art world?!) fetch millions was Banksy ever sent the bill for his vandalising of a London Underground train during the pandemic?