News

Story featured by The Telegraph – 5th November 2007

London Underground passengers may soon have something novel to distract them from the everyday overcrowding, heat, and delays that come with tube travel.

From Monday, Transport for London is to trial a new form of digital advertising which will see high definition moving images projected onto platform walls on the Victoria line at Euston Station.

The four-week trial will involve three "cross track projection" units installed at ceiling height at different points along the platform, playing six, four-second adverts in a loop on the wall opposite.

If the trial is successful, the technology will be rolled out across 24 major tube stations, with 150 units to be installed from early 2008.

For safety reasons there will be no sound on the adverts, just images, so that passengers are free to hear any announcements and are not distracted next to live rails. The images will automatically disappear as trains arrive at the platform so that drivers are not distracted.

Richard Perry, director of service development for London Underground (LU), said: "The new advertising media is expected to increase advertising revenues which will be reinvested in the improvement of the underground network."

LU is also hoping to promote the green benefits of the technology which will come in the form of a reduction in the use of paper adverts and therefore paste, which renders paper non-recyclable. It has estimated that the amount of landfill waste it produces every year will be reduced by 4.1 tonnes.

LU is working with CBS Outdoor, the transport advertising company, on the project.
A spokesman for LU said that it would not be picking up the bill for any of the technology, instead CBS is paying in return for a cut of the advertising revenue.

During the trial, only adverts from London Underground, CBS and Cancer Research will be screened.