Sadly, it is the same in America. Unfortunately, it is not considered much of a "priority" in the courts anymore. If some judge orders a vandal to do community service cleaning up graffiti there is usually a cry of "unusually cruel punishment" from any number of "well meaning" groups. Now the graffiti vandals have begun targeting private automobiles. Imagine walking out your front door to go to work and finding the family auto covered with profanities. The buggers had better hope I never catch them doing that to my auto...
I have seen estimates as high as $5 Billion a year in damage caused by graffiti vandals in the U.S. That's not a "priority?" For that much money we could feed and house every homeless person in North America. I wonder why the "well meaning people" don't say anything about that?
The newest weapons in the fight against graffiti vandalism over here are a few well placed video cameras. The courts often ignore most offenses if there is no iron clad, indisputable evidence. Many businesses that have become frustrated with the criminal justice system have taken their fight to the civil courts by suing graffiti vandals for monetary damages. Fortunately, some laws have just been toughened up in the U.S. so one can't just declare bankruptcy to get out of paying a civil judgement. If you don't pay the court each month, that becomes a criminal offense and you are arrested. Seems silly that you get in more trouble for not paying the court than doing the criminal act in the first place. But then, money talks louder than deeds...
Have any of the tourist railroads over there considered putting in a simple video recording system? Often, just the presence of cameras watching the assets is enough to turn away any but the most hard core vandal. I know that most of the tourist railroads I visit in the U.S. have some form of video surveillance. Of course, much of this comes from the "sue happy" environment that seems to prevail in this country ("ouch I stubbed my toe--I'll sue!"), but it also helps protect the equipment from vandals, (as well as protect the railroad from lawsuit happy morons)...
Tom F