Graffiti clean-up crews will undertake a blitz on the Sandringham Line this week, as they take advantage of the line being closed as part of ongoing construction on the Metro Tunnel’s eastern entrance.

From tonight, Metro Trains clean-up crews will start to remove unsightly graffiti from railway property between South Yarra and Sandringham.

Up to 6000m² of graffiti will be removed from the railway corridor and station precincts along the line as part of the blitz, with a focus between Elsternwick and Sandringham.

More than $10 million is spent removing graffiti from the rail network each year, with crews out cleaning every day and night.

A team of 60 specialists remove around 3,000 tags from stations and trains, and more than 12,000 square metres of graffiti from stations and structures each month – the size of two and half soccer fields.

Metro has also been trialing new techniques for improving graffiti removal, including a corridor-based cleaning program.

The average amount of graffiti removed used to be around 560m2 per month. During a three-month corridor trial last year, graffiti removal increased by more than 2,000 per cent – with the equivalent of 220 cricket pitches now removed each month.

Prevention is also a focus, with a team of security and surveillance officers – backed up by more than 9,000 CCTV cameras – working with police to identify, track and apprehend vandals and reduce further graffiti.

Greater use of drone technology, aerial surveillance helicopters and joint operations with the Transit Safety Division at Victoria Police, have also contributed to recent arrests and prosecutions.

Crews continue to work around the clock to build the roof and foundations of the Metro Tunnel’s eastern entrance in South Yarra, with 400 cubic metres of concrete being poured as part of this process. Once complete, these works will be buried, and the tracks reinstated above to allow trains to resume operation.

More than 160 metres of tracks, ballast and overhead signalling are also being removed as part of these works to enable major excavation and construction to take place below the Sandringham line.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Public Transport Melissa Horne

“Record amounts of graffiti are being removed from some of our busiest rail corridors, with thousands of tags cleaned from trains and stations each month.”

“We’re taking advantage of the current closure of the Sandringham line to clean hard-to-reach areas along the line where graffiti removal has not been possible for some time.”

“More vandals are being arrested and charged than ever before. If you graffiti our rail network, you will be caught.”