Australia’s Sydney Trains is testing a new graffiti-fighting weapon, a vapour-sensing system that automatically detects spray paint or marker pens on carriage surfaces.
Known as Mousetrap device, the electronic chemical sensor has been fitted on an undisclosed number of Sydney trains to help catch offenders in the act.
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The device equipped on the trains detects the smell of spray and then immediately alerts train guards, and so far the vapour-sensing system led to the arrest of more than 30 offenders.
Once the sensors of the device are triggered, an alarm is sent to the Police Transport Command (PTC) and Sydney Trains control staff who can view live CCTV recordings to intercept the criminals.
New South Wales (NSW) minister for transport and infrastructure Andrew Constance said: "Mousetrap is our latest weapon in the war against graffiti thugs damaging our trains. Vandals won’t know where and they won’t know when we’re watching."
The system is in its early stages of trial and evaluation, but Sydney Trains is confident of the initial results.
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By GlobalDataIn the last financial year, the government has spent $34m in removing graffiti from the Sydney Trains network, which is an increase from $30m the year before.
Sydney Trains chief executive Howard Collins said: "We know it’s early days for Mousetrap but its success has been in allowing Sydney Trains to move from a strategy of removing graffiti to one where we stop it as it happens.
"Our message to graffiti vandals is clear: spray the paint and run the risk."
"Our customers hate it – it’s one of the top customer complaints and cleaners work hard to remove about 11,000 tags from trains each month."
Image: Sydney Trains A set (Waratah) departing Central Station in Sydney, Australia. Photo: courtesy of Bidgee via Wikipedia.
