Railway businesses, in particular, have always been short of money.

To improve revenues, railways turned to more intensive exploitation of their passengers and unused space by deploying bookstalls and advertising hoardings.

At first private contractors were employed to exploit advertising hoardings, paying the railways a proportion of takings for the privilege or concession granted. Soon bus and tram operators followed suit.

The massive British Transport Commission was created when transport was nationalized in 1948. This body got rid of many of the contractors in favour of selling adverts direct, thus forming British Transport Advertising and, later, London Transport Advertising. The former concentrated on British railways and docks and the many bus companies that were nationally owned; the latter focused on London Transport's bus and rail operations.

Now control of the advertising rights is back in private hands (Main Line rail mainly with JC Decaux (who took over Titan Outdoor [successors to British Transport Advertising Ltd] and London Underground with CBS Outdoor [previously Viacom, and prior to that TDI]).

Advertising continues to provide a lucrative source of income for the transport business.

 

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CBS (previously TDI
JCDecaux (previously Titan Outdoor)

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