First ScotRail signs ‘train wrap’ ad deal with Viacom

First ScotRail is to wrap entire trains in advertising for the first time, following a deal with Viacom Outdoor.

Viacom is hoping to sign up advertisers for a year at a time. Advertisers will be able to choose to brand individual trains or all of those available under the initiative.

The trains will run on the main intercity routes around Scotland, including Glasgow to Edinburgh, Glasgow to Aberdeen and Glasgow to Inverness. The three-carriage trains, at 69 metres long, are more than half the length of a football pitch.

Viacom Outdoors impact account manager Ross Barrett says: “The wrapped trains represent the largest poster opportunity at any train station in Scotland.”

Before now First ScotRail has experimented with allowing just one carriage to be wrapped with advertising. In 2004 a Caledonian Sleeper, which runs from London to Scotland was painted in tartan as part of a campaign by VisitScotland to encourage Londoners to head north of the border.

First ScotRail, which was named Public Transport Operator of the Year at the National Transport Awards in the summer, is part of First Group, which also runs First Great Western, TransPennine Express and Hull Trains.

Separately, Viacom Outdoor has announced further details of its digital network on the London Underground. Having tested the digital panels at Tottenham Court Road it is now extending it to four more stations, with 20 more planned for next year. Among the first advertisers to use the new digital screens at stations such as Bond Street and Euston are Fox Entertainment, Virgin Atlantic, Magners cider and electronics brand Pioneer.