Vandalism - please get in touch with us!

Damage to property is not a trivial offence! Every year we have to spend several million euros to eliminate incurred damages due to vandalism and graffitis.

Especially scratched windows, cut up seat upholstery as well as interior and exterior graffitis cause us serious problems. On average, we have to replace approximately 3,000 train windows due to damages every year. In addition, there are a further 6,200 seat cushions that have to be changed due to vandalism. Graffitis over a total area of more than 180,000 square meters need to be removed - the equivalent of round about 25 soccer fields! Each exchanged train window causes extra costs in the amount of 600 €, the curved front window of a train even 4,200 €. A new seat upholstery entails costs of 85 EUR, and the replacement of an entire seat bench 1022 EUR.

In order to prevent vandalism damages we are using a scratch protection at passengers window pane, a special laquer finish for exterior and interior and a monitoring system for removal of fire extinguishers. We're also testing various technologies such as thermal imaging cameras and acoustic sensors to protect our trains against unauthorized access in facilities and outdoor areas of our maintenance depots.

In addition to criminal prosecution of the perpetrators, we also enforce our claims for damages under civil law. Whoever gets caught has to pay for the resulting damage.

For example, a student who has been proven to have caused a damage of 3,500 EUR, pays a monthly rate to pay off his debts.