MISC | Metro Vandalism...

[RabidHegelian]

Edit: Forgot title style. Fix?

Hi,

Long time watcher (4+ years?) first time poster.

I would like to know people's feelings on metro vandalism to the outside of the carriage. I'm also interested in how many people are aware of how, I guess you could say black market media industry documenting this, has expanded over the last decade or so.

I held off posting this for many years for fear of being perceived as promoting it. I'm purely interested from an academic level. What I find fascinating is the level of fundamental comittment a lot of these actors have towards their hobby - especially because most of the time the trains never run.

I'm also very interested in the question of security surrounding this phenomenon. Various cities have developed different cultures of concern around the problem. Madrid for example is a very hard place to paint graffiti due to various security apperatus while the policy in a city such as Vienna seems to be an economic rationale of being easier to clean than stop - this in turn when aired to the public causes spikes, especially from German tourists.

By my estimates there are maybe ~200 people who are dedicated to metro painting at any one time - this isn't a quantative number however - and their ages range right up to the late 30s.

Please note I'm not talking about graffiti/vandalism in general or even regular train graffiti. It would be great if people could add their thoughts and tell me if they were aware of this phenomenon.


Examples from 2010/2011 follow...







Films...

http://youtu.be/eiF3lvaluVY

http://youtu.be/DjAKoeX8oKY

http://youtu.be/NzTRk2qlv_I

[nr23Derek]

Some years ago I went to Straford in East London looking for a party. We went down an old rail line which was converted into a cycle route which followed the edge of what I thought was a prison. It had a huge high metal fence topped with coils of barbed wire, with flood lights and CCTV cameras. This is the Jubilee line underground yards, where they park the trains. It was explained to me that the fence was to keep taggers out. What really amazed me though were the several old blankets covering the barbed wire at the top of this huge fence where the taggers had got over to paint the trains...

[zaphod]

Glass scratching and marking on train windows, ticket machine screens! and maps really pisses me off. I've seen ticket machines with touch screens completely ruined and inoperable, where some animal decided to basically slice the plastic with a knife? Why exactly does anyone do this? Locking the trains away in a maximum security depot or installing CCTV everywhere does little to stop it. The perpetrators are probably doing it as they ride, and are using a pair of house keys or some other ordinary item that you couldn't ban because everyone carries them. After this, its the seats that get fucked up. Once again, I can not fathom why someone wants to take their anger on an innocent piece of fabric. This is in a different realm from any "underground art" scene.

EDIT:

Never mind. But anyways, I've never seen paint on the trains of the light rail systems in Houston and Dallas when I visit, and I have seen trains sit on sidings out in the open. I guess luckily there isn't a culture of tagging transit vehicles there?

[SydneyCity]

Graffiti on Sydney's CityRail network is still an ongoing problem, although it is nowhere near as bad as it used to be. It is relatively rare these days to see any train with any marking other than a small tag or scribble on the exterior actually in revenue service, but in the late 1980s and 1990s, graffiti was rampant on the network and it wasn't uncommon for trains to be completely caked in graffiti.

Interior graffiti is still sadly a large problem on all modes of public transport, particularly window etching. Most train windows have some tag scratched into them.

Some Sydney graffiti:

image hosted on flickr

New Cityrail livery? by mattb26j, on Flickr
image hosted on flickr

Grimey by nitro.vo, on Flickr
image hosted on flickr

Pardn? by Sir Topham Hatt., on Flickr
image hosted on flickr

Sulk by Sir Topham Hatt., on Flickr
image hosted on flickr

Sulk by Sir Topham Hatt., on Flickr
image hosted on flickr

back seat by _littlestar_, on Flickr

Due to the problem of graffiti, some Sydney bus seats have fabric like this in order to deter it:
image hosted on flickr

15 | Dale Harrison by Ambiguous Horse, on Flickr

[NotTarts]

Originally Posted by SydneyCity

image hosted on flickr

Unfortunately you can still find trains like this. You can see where they've tried to clean it off but it just smudges all over the place.

[Manila-X]

There is already a thread on this that I created years back.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1147307

[RabidHegelian]

Originally Posted by nr23Derek

Some years ago I went to Straford in East London looking for a party. We went down an old rail line which was converted into a cycle route which followed the edge of what I thought was a prison. It had a huge high metal fence topped with coils of barbed wire, with flood lights and CCTV cameras. This is the Jubilee line underground yards, where they park the trains. It was explained to me that the fence was to keep taggers out. What really amazed me though were the several old blankets covering the barbed wire at the top of this huge fence where the taggers had got over to paint the trains...

Interesting input. From what I can gather the security of the London Underground is also tied to the 1980s- IRA bombings too. You are correct however - London had a very active train vandalism culture in the 90's and further back.

It still occurs on a regular basis in London despite the extreme security measures they have in place. Generally I've found through study that no matter how extreme the security measures the world's larger systems have - London, Madrid, etc - will still be hit by taggers.

Originally Posted by zaphod

Glass scratching and marking on train windows, ticket machine screens! and maps really pisses me off. I've seen ticket machines with touch screens completely ruined and inoperable, where some animal decided to basically slice the plastic with a knife? Why exactly does anyone do this? Locking the trains away in a maximum security depot or installing CCTV everywhere does little to stop it. The perpetrators are probably doing it as they ride, and are using a pair of house keys or some other ordinary item that you couldn't ban because everyone carries them. After this, its the seats that get fucked up. Once again, I can not fathom why someone wants to take their anger on an innocent piece of fabric. This is in a different realm from any "underground art" scene.

EDIT:

Never mind. But anyways, I've never seen paint on the trains of the light rail systems in Houston and Dallas when I visit, and I have seen trains sit on sidings out in the open. I guess luckily there isn't a culture of tagging transit vehicles there?

Thanks for replying. As far as I can tell window scratching, etching, etc are very much seperate from this more secretive train painting society within the vandalism culture.

You will often find scratchings on trains is a result of a much younger and different demographic - generally teens to early 20s - and these people are not the same vandals that paint the outside. I think it is true to say that these window scratches are looked down upon even by the painters.

In terms of Houston and Dallas you are correct - America has a much different graffiti culture compared to the rest of the world. The transit systems are vandalised there but from the early 1990s the American culture became very focused on wall and freight train vandalism.

Many of the core offenders for Metro painting come from countries such as Australia, Germany, Poland, Sweden, etc.

It also has to do with the system of transit itself. There are many people who paint commuter trains, s-bahns, inter city trains, LRTs and even trams that do not paint the metro systems. The metro systems are essentially at the top of the graffiti heirachy and only vandalised by the most dedicated.

What I also find interesting is a common misconception among rail enthusiasts - these people do not hate trains or even hold an indifference towards them - the majority of the time they genuinely obsess and love the train systems they damage.

I have spoken with only a limited few but read many interviews and they are as passionate about the types of train used on the underground systems as much as we would be - if not more given the pointless stupidity of the activity they undertake. To them the model of train and the type of classification the system is matters a lot. I suspect this is why the LRT systems of Texas aren't vandalised much, if at all. The main prize in North America is your traditional systems - these are prized above all else - underground, third rail powered, classic metro.

Originally Posted by SydneyCity

Graffiti on Sydney's CityRail network is still an ongoing problem, although it is nowhere near as bad as it used to be. It is relatively rare these days to see any train with any marking other than a small tag or scribble on the exterior actually in revenue service, but in the late 1980s and 1990s, graffiti was rampant on the network and it wasn't uncommon for trains to be completely caked in graffiti.

Spot on thanks for sharing because this is just the stuff I am interested in. The security of Sydney and Melbourne train systems has really changed over the last decade. Their depots and sometimes sidings are heavily guarded by actual security forces. This is a common practise in many cities and it seems to contribute somewhat to reducing the occurance. Other cities take much more quirky approaches - Adelaide for example have a humerous sprinkler system on large poles which when sensored triggered start to wet the trains - thus making them close to unpaintable.

Melbourne also have the APU - Asset Protection Unit - which are from what I can gather deputised transit guards. This seems to be one of the more interesting and shady types of security implimented where by they act in a very grey legal area.

The APUs basic modus operandi is to lay in wait at train depots and catch vandals red handed. I am quite concerned about this city and how the situation will develop as this invariably sets up a culture of violence. I have spoken, in person, to a Melbourne vandal who told a tale of the APU hospitalising (broken arm/leg) a vandal they caught last year or the year before.

Many would argue this is a valid form of justice but I would highlight, again, the situation in Madrid. Where violence dramatically increased by both sides since the 1990s. Guards now work in teams of two or more - armed with trudgeons and dogs as a result of this increasing violence. Although whether this is isolated or whether the history of Spain's fascism relates I cannot say.

Its also interesting to note that as Australia has no actual metro systems - despite the Melbourne company changing and rebranding - their commuter trains are probably the only trains world wide to be held in the same field as metro systems by the vandals. Probably due to the distance from Europe (the center of this activity), the thriving vandalism culture still happening in Australia and the fact there is no alternative there.

Originally Posted by Manila-X

There is already a thread on this that I created years back.

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1147307

Sorry to steal your idea - I will read through your thread.

[trainrover]

old footage

[tenfour]

Hi RabidHegelian,
I just have a remark on your comment about this Asset Protection Unit that Metro trains has. Having limited contact with Metro and its workings, I believe that this team has been erroneously tagged, (pardon the pun) as a anti graffiti task force as such. My understanding is that they are more likened to an Internal Investigation / Security Unit that monitor all railway facilities and tracks for law-breaking. I shy away from using the “T” word here. However, I believe that the APU have been labelled as graffiti artist catches as, they have been the ones arresting graffitist in, on and around the railway facilities, and as this particular community is a high user of social media and internet chat sites, they are thought to be wholly dedicated to arresting graffiti artist. Anyway, just my thoughts.