Get ready to see this on Indian Railways freight trains soon

Indian Railways has been exploring new ways to generate revenue and many experiments have been made, which have been successful over the years. Now, it is going to do something that has not been tried so far. Advertisements! Yes, get ready to see ads on freight trains. Ads are the vital element for the companies to generate revenues. So, here, for the first time, freight trains are going to start displaying advertisements to generate non-fare revenue, a senior Railway official said on Thursday. 

Dalmia Cement Company was awarded a contract by South Eastern Railway (SER) for a period of five years for 300 BOXN wagons under 'Branding on wheels' scheme. The 300 BOXN wagons have an aluminum body on steel under frame. The advertisement will be displayed on the exterior body of the freight trains.

"It is movable advertising and this means that the client will get greater publicity across the route," an official said on advertisements on freight trains.

Alongside the contract to Dalmia Cement to advertise on freight trains, SER awarded another contract to display advertisement on rakes of Steel Express, which is a super fast class train connecting Kolkata with the steel-producing city Jamshedpur in Jharkhand state.

"Railways has earned Rs 204.10 crore and Rs 223.53 crore during financial years 2017-18 and 2018-19 respectively from non-fare revenues," Railway Minister Piyush Goyal informed parliament on Wednesday.

Railway minister further said that Indian Railways has issued policies to generate non-fare revenues from various sources such as mobile assets, out of home advertising, rail display network and content on demand to generate more revenue.