First of all what is graffiti ?. To me it is unwanted artwork/communication - vandalism. It indicates an area or vehicle is not cared for and it invites more vandalism. Furthermore it is uninviting to the rest of society.
As long as the brakes work let the trains run, we have enough issues with trains not running as it is without someone wanting trains to be taken out of service because of a bit of graffiti, offensive or not.
If you're offended, look the other way.
Unbelieveable.
No the first thing to do is deny the perpetrator the satisfaction of seeing what they have done, knowing others are seeing it and also removing the suggestion to others to do the same.
Not unbelievable at all. It is well known that the graffiti vandals like to see their work in public - it gives more kudos, apparently. So having trains running around with graffiti on only encourages more vandalism - go to Belgium or Slovenia to see the effect of that. Therefore the policy should be one of zero tolerance with trains taken out of service to be cleaned.
Correct. A psychologist once likened tagging to a dog scent marking. Do we want it to be their area/train or ours ?.
Do you think the criminals / vandals care? They know their tags won't last long anyway, but cancelling a train during the day when in all honesty, the train will be cleaned in a few days anyway is sheer lunacy. Right now, train services are suffering enough as it is with strikes, reduced trains available because of old stock going off for scrap and existing trains needing maintenance without taking trains out of service because it might mean someone is offended for 3 seconds while a train speeds past at 75-80mph. Keep the trains in service until they can be treated without affecting the service levels.
Stop this nonsense.
They do care. There is a motivation. There is also the message it sends to like minded vandals. Taggers do compete for the most prominent places for THEIR tag. They will climb up to get a more prominent location. Don't give them the satisfaction. It is not pleasant to see and sends a bad message about the affected area/train.
I think right now there are plenty of spare trains. It is staff to operate them that seems to be the problem.
Ignore it at your peril.
I am back in London for the Easter holidays. Taking the 700 frequently some things don’t change.
700 get a lot of it in toilets.
My granddaughter will not use a class 700 loo in that kind of state, she is afraid.
The possibility of graffiti should be costed-in to fleet renewals with enough spare stock available to cover for any units that are affected. There also needs to be much greater security of sites where trains are parked, and the building of sufficient train sheds to ensure that the majority of stock is stabled under cover. No graffiti artists should be given the satisfaction of knowing that there handiwork will reach a public audience.
Furthermore that cost would not be great if it were removed quickly. The vandals would be less inclined to keep doing it.
So instead you give the graffiti artists the satisfaction of knowing that they're costing the government hundreds of millions of additional pounds? That just ups the stakes in the game.
A clear plastic Vinyl would be a lot cheaper to apply over the livery, and the unit could be arranged to be taken out of service close to a depot suitably equipped to cut out the affected portion and replace it in a few hours.
I doubt these vandals think about the cost to law abiding citizens. Would a criminal be less inclined to commit a crime if they thought money would not be spent on their court case ?.
You are right though - obviously the cheaper quick solutions are best.
