The two London Underground lines where TfL forced to ‘work 24/7’ removing thousands of graffiti every week
The London Transport body has said that is currently working 24/7 to remove it
The London Transport body has said that is currently working 24/7 to remove it(Image: MyLondon)
Transport for London is spending hours removing thousands of one thing from the Tube each week. The London Transport body has said that is currently working 24/7 to remove an increasing amount of graffiti from two of its Tube lines.
Tagging and graffiti on the Central and Bakerloo lines has been on the rise in recent months. Photographs and video show its carriages covered in spray paint, most of which is tagging – a quick form of graffiti where an artist paints their signature on something.
People have taken to social media to discuss the shocking increase of graffiti on the London Underground. One user said the vandalised carriages looked like “a horror film set.”
Another user, called ReddSpark, said: “Anyone caught doing this should be given a fine and then a choice go to prison (send parents to prison if the kid is underaged). Or community service in which the culprit has to manually clean the carriage.”
Will, who uses the X handle TeslaJigsaw, commented: “Disgraceful. From both the lack of respect from those that do this, to the lack of law and order protecting public spaces.”
Why are we seeing more graffiti on the Tube?
Transport for London has now revealed that it is removing more than 1,000 tags per week on the Bakerloo line and more than 2,000 per week on the central line. It has also said that it is no longer able to withdraw all vandalised trains from service due to issues with stock – which may be one contributing factor as to why passengers are seeing more graffiti on the network.
A TfL spokesperson said: “We have deployed an accelerated cleaning programme in response to the specific increase in graffiti on the Central and Bakerloo lines. Teams are removing graffiti 24/7, and are currently removing more than 1,000 tags per week on the Bakerloo line and more than 2,000 on the Central line.
“We previously withdrew trains from service as soon as they had been vandalised, but with reduced availability due to ageing trains this isn’t always possible without impacting services. This is why we are working to secure investment in the Tube network, to replace and upgrade trains and ensure we can deliver the world-class transport network that Londoners and visitors deserve and expect.”
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