A PROLIFIC graffiti artist has offered to paint over his work to fend off bankruptcy action by train operator Metro for an outstanding $25,000 clean-up bill.

For almost nine years Jason Bath daubed his alias "break" across the rail system but faced with an unwanted new tag - "broke" - he's prepared to swap spray cans for a roller.

The Vermont forklift driver had hoped the six-month jail stint he served last year for his spree would wipe his slate clean.

But Metro's lawyers recently served him with legal papers chasing court-ordered compensation for costs towards cleaning the dozens of carriages and surfaces he defaced.

Bath claims the tally he owes includes about $8000 to clean a single wall in Richmond.

The 41-year-old said he couldn't afford to pay but would paint over the graffiti himself if it would help him avoid bankruptcy.

"I want to get my life back on the right path again, back on track," he said.

"If they want to bankrupt me, they'll get nothing. It still spins my head around, the effort they have gone to and the money they have spent to nail me."

He argues that instead of sending him to prison, authorities should have let him spend the time erasing his sins, literally.

"I put my hand up. I pleaded guilty. I copped the jail time," he said.

"But things I've done, they've never been cleaned off. I could have done something when I was in jail, used a bit of bucket paint to roll the walls clean."

At the time, Deputy Chief Magistrate Dan Muling said Bath had "rendered ugly a great deal of scenery passed daily by commuters".

He described the work as "a blight on society".

The stealth attacks of old are over, Bath said, and he plans to never attack property again.

"I don't have the time or energy now to go through with it any more," he said.

The frequent public transport user said he, like most other Melbourne commuters, was annoyed when train services were delayed.

"I catch the train myself, all the time. I'm frustrated when the train driver says vandalism has disrupted the train. Nobody wants to be late for work."

Metro spokeswoman Larisa Tait declined to comment before a scheduled Federal Court hearing listed for September 12.

fiona.hudson@news.com.au