Rush on for ad space in AC train

Even before the air-conditioned train begins to run on the Central Railway (CR) advertisers have already approached officials for advertising rights for space on the train. Officials have said that they intend to start a bidding war on the air-conditioned train with the rights costing up to Rs 32 lakh per year.

The CR has received the air-conditioned train on April 5 and is undergoing safety checks as well as fixing the remaining electricals for the same. The train will then go through a ‘battery of tests’. This progression, together with the fact that the CR is yet to decide whether to run the train on its mainline or Harbour, will mean that it will take a good amount of time for the train to finally be put into service.

CR is now hoping that this train will be one of the biggest revenue assets as suburban railway has always been running in losses.

A senior officials on condition of anonymity revealed that the CR has been getting a lot of enquires since the word of the new air-conditioned spread. “We have already been asked by those who advertise on our normal coaches about when the tenders for the air-conditioned coach will be out. Our tentative plan is to open the bidding for advertisement rights at roughly Rs 32 lakh per year,” said the official. He further added, “The only drawback is according to the railway rules we will have to limit the contract for a period of three years. Otherwise, we could have increased the rates after every year.”

The CR currently charges approximately Rs 5 lakh for advertising on a local train.

The plan is to give the kind of space to advertisers that is provided in long-distance trains like the Duranto. “Since the door of the train will be shut while it is in motion, it will give more space to advertisers as compared to local trains whose doors remain open, thus losing out on advertising area. Plus, sticking adverstiments on a usual local train is a hassle as the advertisers have to custom-make them and stick them on the walls accordingly,” added the official.

Duranto runs with complete vinyl wrapping through out the train and is seen as a major advertising win, in terms of visibility to the public.