Tube car panels advertising

What it is

Printed panels inside the carriage, set above the windows and in the passenger's eye line whether they are seated or standing. They are bought as a line pack — a distribution of panels across the trains running a line — rather than at a chosen station.

This is the only Underground format that travels with its audience. Every other placement waits for the passenger to arrive; a car panel is already in the carriage when they sit down, and it is still there when they get off.

Why advertisers use it

The reading conditions are unlike anything else on the network. The passenger is stationary, close to the panel, usually without a usable phone signal, and looking for somewhere neutral to rest their eyes. That is the rare case in outdoor advertising where a longer piece of copy is actually read rather than glanced at.

It also buys repetition honestly: a commuter on the same line meets the campaign twice a day for the length of the booking, which is why the format is bought for recruitment and considered purchases rather than for a single burst of awareness.

Cost

£18 per panel, per 2 weeks. Rates move with zone, station footfall and trading period: January and August are the softest, the Christmas run-in the hardest. Panels are sold in packs rather than singly, so the minimum booking is what sets the entry point for this format rather than the per-panel rate. Print is included in the panel rate, which is not true of the digital formats.

The right choice depends on the job, not the format — compare them on what each is for.

Booking and lead time

Six to eight weeks ahead is the sweet spot: it protects both the price and the quality of the sites you get. Station dominations and peak trading periods need longer. Copy clearance sits ahead of the on-air date, so leave room for it in the schedule.

Writing for a seated reader

The panel is small and close, so it is read rather than seen. Copy that would be unreadable on a platform poster works here: a proposition, a short explanation and a way to act on it. Response mechanics earn their place for the same reason — the reader has time and both hands free.

Carriage interiors are grey, blue and busy with signage, so contrast matters more than colour. And the panel sits above the windows in a line of other panels, which means the first job of the design is to look unlike its neighbours.

Supplying to spec is only half of it: copy clearance sits ahead of the on-air date.

What you give up

You cannot target a station. The buy is a line, and the panels are distributed across the trains working it, so a campaign aimed at the audience of one location is better served by a format that sits in that location.

The panel is also physically small and shares the carriage with several others. It rewards a campaign with something to say and punishes one relying on scale for impact — the opposite of the trade-off on cross-track or domination formats.