A group of volunteers has taken it upon themselves to clean graffiti-covered Bakerloo line trains, with founder Joe Reeve, 28, claiming they are 'doing what mayor Sir Sadiq Khan can’t'. Reeve, who also runs the policy organisation Looking for Growth, set up the informal group after growing frustrated with the state of the London Underground.
Reeve told the Standard: 'I take the Bakerloo line every morning and I see someone push past the barrier. Then when I get down to the Tube, every single carriage is full of graffiti. It feels like no one is doing anything to make the city better.' He added that the volunteer effort is a way of 'taking action when leadership doesn’t'.
The clean-up has attracted praise from Transport for London (TfL) staff. Reeve said: 'One said: “At least someone’s doing something.” Another driver came out and saw the clean carriage and asked who sent us — we said we’re just volunteers.' The group has also confronted fare evasion and anti-social behaviour, with Reeve challenging people who push past barriers.
Reeve criticised the mayor's record on housing, public order, and council tax, saying: 'I pay more than £500 in council tax to Lambeth Council and my bins are collected twice a month. They just increased my council tax to the maximum and reduced my bin collection to once every two weeks.' He also highlighted issues on Westminster Bridge, which he says is 'always full of neon music taxi bikes'.
Through Looking for Growth, Reeve is pushing for infrastructure reforms. Last year, the group wrote the National Priority Infrastructure Bill to ease building of nuclear power plants, with four of its five aims adopted by the Labour government. Reeve said his mission is to stop 'en-shittification' and see the country succeed.
A TfL spokesperson said: 'The safety of our customers and staff is our top priority. We are working closely with the police to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour on the network, with over 2,500 police and police community support officers and 500 TfL enforcement staff patrolling the network at all times.'
