The Belgian railway company SNCB spent €8.8 million last year removing graffiti from its trains, cleaning over 250,000 square metres of surface.
Graffiti was cleaned from more than 2,100 train vehicles, including trainsets, carriages, and locomotives, according to Mobility Minister Jean-Luc Crucke in response to a parliamentary question. This involved 8,483 instances of graffiti covering a total area of 251,334 square metres.
The SNCB noted that the amount of graffiti removed remains high but has stabilised compared to 2023. The total cost of the clean-up was €8.8 million, slightly lower than the €8.9 million spent in 2023.
In 2024, SNCB received 382 reports of graffiti on railway property. Staff issued 51 official reports related to these incidents.
The railway company can only recover clean-up costs when perpetrators are caught in the act and properly identified.
