Enhancing the Legal Response project takes legal action against the perpetrator for repayment of the cost of the damage. If the perpetrator is a young person, the costs may be sought from their parents or arrangements can be made for the payment when they are employed later. The initiator company, Nederlandse Spoorwegen, is very strict with the arrangements and the payment of the damage. This, in addition to the criminal process, is said to be very effective and can have a preventive impact.
Until recently, criminal damage was considered a minor offense in the courts with the sentence of a fine and compensation. To calculate the compensation due, there is an agreement between the Justices and the police on the standard cost per square meter of damage. This standard cost includes cleaning and the loss of taking the rolling stock out of service. The Government has recently agreed that it can qualify as the more serious offense of 'public violence against persons or goods' with the scope for imposing a custodial sentence.