This headline greeted us in our local paper today. Yes, it's a nice picture, but I was referring to the lead story about Nya pendelsabotage (or New train sabotage). The quiet, sleepy town of Nynäshamn has been hit by a concerted campaign of annoyances revolving around the train for the past two years and while the politicians, police, social welfare and the train company chose either the ostrich method (hoping it would go away by itself) or the angry finger pointing, pass the buck method there seemed no solution in sight.

Initially it began as a few teens spraying graffiti around the place. It was quite noticeable here because this is a small place and this sort of behaviour is often more a city-based activity. The kids painted their tags at the railway stations and once one started, more followed until a couple of the stations looked really bad. They also upturned rubbish bins and spread the litter.

There were the letters to the editor, some stuff was cleaned up, they removed the litter bins (wtf?) but nothing else was done and certainly no-one bothered to ask "Why?" Then a group of teenagers began to trash the stations. Again it was confined to two stations, Nynäsgård and Ösmo, but the destruction was total. Benches ripped out of the ground, weather-proof shelters had the glass smashed, then the frame bent out of shape, station clocks, public address systems and tv screens with times were also destroyed. As fast as things were repaired, they were attacked again. Response from the authorities? Nil.

Later the kids became braver and began to trash train carriages - covering them inside and out with graffiti, ripping seats, harrassing passengers and train staff, refusing to pay their fare and some even brought big, vicious dogs on the train to help with the threats. Things were getting out of control.

So the train company employed security guards at night (the peak time for these attacks) and they patrolled the trains and watched the stations. In an effort to gain more control they also reduced the number of carriages that continued on to Nynäshamn. While 8 carriages left Stockholm, at Västerhaninge they removed 4 carriages and then closed a further two, allowing only the front two to be used. It was tight and crowded. The eight stations after that point are small and unmanned and it was these stations that the kids used for their train hopping exploits.

In response, the kids upped the ante and started leaving things on the tracks! There have been bicycles laid on the track, also manhole covers dropped from overpasses, rocks thrown through the windows and last week a concrete block was placed on the track between Tungelsta and Hemfosa. The train was unable to stop in time and while luckily there was not the intended derailment, its undercarriage was badly damaged.

The police claimed they knew who the kids were, but could do nothing unless they were "caught in the act". The train company responded by stopping trains to Nynäshamn. We had to take a special bus to Västerhaninge, then swap to the train there. While the kids were jubilant with this new found power (Man, I stopped the Nynäshamn trains!), for those of us who rely on the train to commute to work each day, this was awful. It added an additional half an hour to the journey. It is also a nuisance to those who want to take the ferry from here. Many passengers come by train to take the ferry to Gdansk, Ventspils, Riga or Visby and they had to struggle off the train with their heavy luggage and cross the station to the bus, then find a place for themselves and their bags. The citizens' grumbles increased, then business weighed in. Hey, we even made the national papers and tv news. Tourism was being threatened and once the hip pocket was hit, the pollies sprang into action (some things just never change).

Finally, all parties got together and pooled knowledge and resources. Amazing! One wonders why they couldn't have done that 2 years ago. They sent 85 police here. We were shocked. We saw police actually in our streets. I thought they were tourists or lost, it was such a rare sight. And after two days, they rounded up the gang of little darlings and charged them.

These kids were only 13 years old.

How sad that a group of kids were able to cripple a whole town.

But the good news is that the trains are running again! Still the two carriage restriction in the evenings, but at least we have trains.

And Nynäshamn returns to its sleepy, calm, country self.



And thats just how we like it.