We've all noticed it. The past few months have seen a big uptick in graffiti on the Tube. What's causing the unsightly surge, and what are the authorities doing about it?
We might all moan from time to time, but the London Underground is usually a relatively clean and well-maintained place. To see a train with major graffiti issues was a rarity. Now it's almost the norm, at least on the Central and Bakerloo lines.
According to the BBC, Transport for London now removes some 3,000 pieces of graffiti each week from these lines, with around 1,000 on the Bakerloo and 2,000 on the Central. Why has the problem suddenly got so bad? And why on those lines in particular?
The surge seems to have a number of causes. First, there really is an uptick in tagging. Staff have noticed a big increase since April, as though the trains have been systematically targeted for some reason.
Second, the perpetrators often use an 'alcohol-based leather dye', which seeps into surfaces and is harder to remove than regular spray paint. It can take up to an hour and a half to remove one tag.
The problem was exacerbated in April when TfL's automatic train washer became unusable due to a Network Rail track fault. All graffiti had to be removed by hand. This has now been fixed.
Perhaps the biggest factor, however, is the ageing rolling stock. Normally, TfL has spare trains it can put out while cleaning work is done on graffiti-laden carriages. But the Central line fleet is currently in the middle of an upgrade. Up to five whole trains are out of service at any given time. This means there are no spares in the system. Graffiti-covered trains must be sent back out to keep the service running. Similarly, the Bakerloo line has issues with old, unreliable rolling stock and is often short of carriages to send out.
The problem has got so bad that it's even attracted 'vigilante' gangs of volunteer cleaners who, it turns out, have political links to Dominic Cummings. Yes, really.
TfL has now accelerated its train-cleaning operation, but it's tough, tough work. The Standard recently paid a visit to a Central line depot to see how the carriages are cleaned.
The problem should lessen as upgraded Central line trains come back into service. Not only will that increase the number of spares in the system, but the revamped stock will also have CCTV, which may deter some of the interior graffiti. Clearly, though, more effort also needs to go into prevention and prosecution.
Graffiti on the Tube might be a growing problem, but it's nothing new. The first documented prosecution was in March 1864, little more than a year after the first underground line opened. Mr Aquila Williams was fined for writing "obscene words... calculated to pollute the minds of the passengers on that railway" on the door of a carriage.
In summing up, the judge said he was confident that the case's publicity "would be effectual in preventing such conduct in future." Clearly not.
