Rak(e)ing in the moolah

Railways set to launch new advertising space option in interiors and exteriors of new rakes

In a move that will leave advertising firms and commuters smiling, the Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) is proposing to lease out space on exteriors of new train rakes for advertising purposes. The move will not only generate lakhs of rupees for the railways, but also make trains looking better and more colourful in the future.


Space for sale: Mumbai Railway Vikas Corporation (MRVC) is planning to
lease out the above marked spaces inside the train rakes to sponsors in
order to increase its revenue collection. Pic/Vedika Chaubey

Earlier, railway authorities had no intentions of allow advertising on interiors or exteriors of MRVC rakes; however, they have recently decided to go ahead with the project after a study conducted by a team from NIT and MRVC.

Last month, one rake belonging to Central Railways was leased to a sponsor and after a makeover, was shown to the General Manager Kul Bhushan, who then approved it.

There are currently 44 rakes with Central Railways and 57 with the Western Railways. Each new rake is expected to generate Rs 20 lakh per annum, thereby converting to a revenue of over 20 crore per annum for the railways.

Following MRVC's approval, the railways will take the decision regarding design and price to be quoted for advertisements. Prakash Rao Vazalwar, Chief Operations Manager, MRVC, said, "We had done a study on interior advertisements of new rakes, which was finalized and approved by MRVC and has been already forwarded to Central and Western Railways."

Advertisements on the new rakes will not be in normal paint, but a vinyl coating. Also, the new rakes will be treated with a special chemical so that stains can easily be removed.

AK Jain, senior PRO, CR, said, "We will be getting 12 new rakes this year and railways has been putting in extra effort and taking all the proper steps while advertising on the rakes. The exterior ads will be vinyl coated and interior advertisements will be on acrylic sheets."

ZA Siddiqui, Chief Commercial Manager, Central Railway, confirmed this saying,u00a0 "We liked the design and
location of advertisements on the rakes and will be implementing soon. The ads will be on acrylic sheet, which will make it easier to remove and insert new ads."

The railways have decided the size, design and placement of advertisements on the rake, keeping in mind not to hide or conceal the railways logo.

u00a0"This has been done just to ensure that the manufacture details etc, of the new rake is not hidden," informed a senior official.u00a0