Two Metro 'artists' learn a lesson

Two university students were ordered to volunteer at Metro stations for 40 hours for drawing graffiti on a Metro Line 17 train in April.

It took eight Metro workers 10 hours to clean the graffiti -- an artistic image. And services on the line were halted for the cleaning.

The two, Chen and Feng, were also each fined 50 yuan (US$ 7.50) by police. They were also ordered cover the Metro's cleaning costs, about 7,300 yuan.

But the Metro operator said considering Chen and Feng are still students who don’t have much money, instead of paying the cleaning fee, they can serve as volunteers as Metro stations.

This is the first time a Chinese Metro added financial penalty and forced volunteer work for offenders.

Chen and Feng agreed. After some basic training, the two started to wear the red vests of customer helpers in Metro stations to guide passengers and tell them to obey the rules.

The Metro operator said in this way the two students will have a deeper understanding of what they had done. It will also be a reminder to all passengers to be more appreciative of the services they receive.