TRANSPORT chiefs are hoping to make millions of pounds by selling advertising rights for the city's trams.
Two of the 27 trams needed for the airport-to-Newhaven route will be offered to marketing firms with a view to being fully wrapped in advertising.
Despite the economic downturn, it is expected that external and internal advertising on trams, as w
ell as adverts on the tram stops will prove popular.
Transport chiefs are also exploring the idea of installing digital advertising panels at a number of the main bus and tram interchanges planned for the route, including Picardy Place and Haymarket.
Lothian Buses makes around £1 million a year from selling advertising on its vehicles and, despite losing 19 buses when the trams get under way up and running, they are not anticipating a major drop in revenue.
Transport Edinburgh Limited – the company that will run the bus and tram network – today said it would strike a balance between the advertising opportunities and the branding of the city's new transport set-up.
But industry experts today predicted that companies will be lining up to take advertising on the £512m scheme.
Neil Renilson, chief executive of Transport Edinburgh Limited and Lothian Buses, said tram advertising would tie in with bus ads. "There will be a number of advertising spaces inside and outside of the trams, and it would be the same as the buses, in that there will be a limited number of full external advertising opportunities.
"As with Lothian Buses, it is important that we don't do too many, however, as it would begin to undermine the brand and would make the whole thing look cluttered."
The first trams are expected to be on the city's streets by mid-2010, when TIE, the council-owned firm building the tram line, will carry out trials, ahead of a full launch in spring 2011.
The trams are being supplied by Spanish firm CAF – which built the trains for the Heathrow Express – and will be among the biggest currently used in Europe, with capacity for 250 passengers.
Yvonne Seator, head of design and advertising at marketing firm Dada, said: "
"I think there will be a big desire to get in early, because there is no getting away from the novelty factor at the start."
The full article contains 390 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
