Media centre

Monday 19 Jan 2004

NETWORK RAIL AND SOUTH LONDON BOROUGHS TEAM UP TO CRACK DOWN ON GRAFFITI VANDALS

Region & Route:

| Southern

Network Rail and a number of South London Boroughs have teamed up to fight back against vandals who graffiti the city.  As part of an on-going campaign, Network Rail and council staffs are working together to remove unsightly scrawl from the railway infrastructure. Network Rail and the Boroughs, have successfully forged partnerships in which council graffiti busting teams remove ugly graffiti from railway structures facing onto the public highway under a new agreement. Lineside graffiti is removed directly by Network Rail’s contractors for safety reasons and is prioritised to tackle hot spots areas. Offensive or racist material is removed within 24 hours.  Agreements are in place with the London Boroughs of Richmond, Hammersmith and Fulham, Croydon, Wandsworth, Merton, Lambeth, Southwark and Kingston with discussions underway with further local authorities. The costs of cleaning up graffiti are enormous and unsightly scrawl may never be eradicated completely, often leaving permanent scars on the railway environment. Network Rail’s Southern region spends over £750,000 per year tackling the blight of graffiti, vital funding that should be rightly spent rebuilding Britain’s railway.  Dealing with graffiti offences also diverts valuable police and staff resources.             Graffiti perpetrators not only pose an obvious ant-social nuisance but also regularly endanger their own lives and those of others when they stray onto the railway line to carry out their mindless acts of vandalism. Every year there are cases of so called  ‘graffiti artists’ being killed or seriously injured whilst trespassing on railway infrastructure. Trains running on electrified railways take their power from an extra, live rail that looks like it is part of the track itself.  Contact with this live rail results in a massive, often fatal, electric shock.             Network Rail is committed to tackling graffiti problems and has an ongoing programme to improve security by installing new line side fencing in problem areas.  We are also working closely with the British Transport Police to reduce crime on the railway by targeting schools and the community with rail safety messages. However, we would appeal to the local community to report any acts of railway crime confidentially to the British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40 The line is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and calls are free.      Robin Gisby, Regional Director, Network Rail said, “We recognise that the visual impact of our infrastructure is important for both passengers and our lineside neighbours.   The improvements made through these partnerships have been significant, creating a more pleasant environment for the local community.”