London's Heathrow Express to get half-kilometer-long LED video display

Because all of the posters plastered on every single surface on the inside of the cars is clearly not enough advertising for your average subway passenger, London is poised to light up a half-kilometer-long LED display in the tunnel between Heathrow and Paddington Station. Manufactured by Canadian firm SideTrack, the simulated video system -- which is composed of 360 individual LED bars synchronized to train speeds -- will replace a static version already installed along the same Heathrow Express route, thus allowing officials to change the message without swapping out physical signage. No word yet on who the premiere advertiser will be, but this medium would seem like a good way for rental car companies to make a compelling point: "Avoid these crappy ads, rent from Avis next time."

[Thanks, Jamie D.]

[Abu Ghraib @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:07PM]

Actually, it;s not London Underground.

[Timothy @ Dec 3rd 2007 4:37PM]

Yeah. Anyone taking the HEX is totally NOT in the market for a rental car.

Unless, of course, you REALLY like the M4.

Timothy

[Matt @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:09PM]

I see plenty of billboards full of crappy ads when driving, too.

[Jeff @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:10PM]

I saw this in action in the Beijing subway in China...its really interesting to see the first time but after seeing it EVERYDAY it gives you seizures (the variable speed of the train prevents the LEDs from flashing like a normal screen) but its still pretty cool the first time I saw it.

[Matthew Hilario @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:11PM]

does ths one take me to picadilly?

[steveo @ Dec 3rd 2007 3:07PM]

Paddington Station, near Byswater.

[BatteryAcid @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:17PM]

same as 1/3rd of a mile. Interesting, but not really amazing.

[John @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:23PM]

Wouldn't it be easier and A LOT CHEAPER to put a nonmoving screen instead of train windows?

[Jason @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:27PM]

I was thinking of a speed-synced lcd window, that flashes from opaque to transparent to create the illusion that the static images hung on the tunnel wall outside the window is an animation.

But hanging a display inside the car would work too. :P

[Tonicboy @ Dec 3rd 2007 3:49PM]

Maybe, maybe not. At least, consider that if you go with traditional displays inside the train, you will probably have one screen every 20-30 ft. At about ~10 screens in each car and a wild estimate of 4 10-car trains for the Heathrow Express, you're talking about installing 100 screens versus one very long screen. Not only that, but due to the nature of this screen, it can be seen in every single window, as opposed to traditional screens which have gaps in coverage.

[Tony2X @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:33PM]

Sorry to be such a pedant but the Heathrow Express is not part of the London Underground network, it is a private rail line owned by BAA (who also own Heathrow and other assorted airports).

[Tonicboy @ Dec 3rd 2007 3:51PM]

Sorry, I'm missing the part where anyone mentioned anything at all about the London Underground?

[Tony2X @ Dec 3rd 2007 3:57PM]

It seems that my pedantry paid off and the article was updated. :)

[Scooter @ Dec 3rd 2007 4:12PM]

and most riding the Heathrow express are not "your average subway passenger". Indeed, confirmed 'subway' passengers can get to Heathrow by tube, sans the LCD adverts.

[VI DAN @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:39PM]

I've seen this on the Blue Line subway in Chicago.

[pkpowerhouse @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:43PM]

Where on the Blue Line?

[Mgkwho @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:44PM]

yep, me too.

[VI DAN @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:52PM]

pkpowerhouse - In between Grand and Clark I believe. I rarely ride the EL, but I was going from my job (Chicago Tribune) to take an exam downtown so I took it.

[Scott Frazer @ Dec 3rd 2007 4:17PM]

It's only on the southbound blue line, if it's still there at all... been awhile since I saw it.

The advantage there was the ads were animated. About 15-30 seconds worth of silent, moving pictures ads for Target, or Honda when I was riding that train regularly.

[David @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:40PM]

They had something exactly like this on the Metro in DC. I saw it each time i went from China town towards the green line.

[andy @ Dec 3rd 2007 3:30PM]

It's actually on the Red line, between Metro Center and Gallery Place.

[Stephen Neal @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:47PM]

Headline is misleading. The Heathrow Express between Paddington and Heathrow is not a London Underground line. Although it may go through tunnels, it is an overland line, operated not by London Underground, but instead by the British Airports Authority.

There IS a London Underground line serving Heathrow, it is part of the Piccadilly line, but the LED sign is not part of this.

[Meatwad @ Dec 3rd 2007 2:52PM]

This isn't the Underground but rather Heathrow Express - my favorite way to get from LHR to London. I saw the static version this past summer and it was pretty cool.

[Morrison @ Dec 3rd 2007 3:01PM]

I'm confused, so it's a sign that 500 meters large, or 500 meters of LEDs to light up advertisement..? meh

[Peter White @ Dec 3rd 2007 3:16PM]

They have this, or something very similar, on PATH in NYC too. It is just after the train leaves WTC station for NJ.

[soul7963 @ Dec 3rd 2007 3:34PM]

I work for a media company in london and have already had the guys who represent Sidetrack present the hard sell on this. The car client i work for were offered first dibs on the old static version but we timed out and Microsoft ended up with the six month let (they used it for their Vista launch campaign).

I have experienced the static version on the Heathrow express and while is should reach a healthy target audience (ABC1 Male 35-50, avg. business traveller), when i myself have been on the train i have never seen anyone spot it! Maybe with the brighter LED setup it may attract more attention.

[Russ @ Dec 3rd 2007 4:47PM]

I saw this on the Heathrow Express in June this year. It was advertising Intel processors if I remember correctly.

[Russ @ Dec 3rd 2007 4:51PM]

Maybe I should have read the article properly before commenting. Never mind.

[Jeff @ Dec 3rd 2007 5:04PM]

Actually, last year I was taking the very train to go to Heathrow when I saw something like this in action. There was an adverstisment for vista, showing full motion video as thousands of slides made the appearance of a video for a good 45 seconds. Mind you the train was going about 90 mph.

[Terry @ Dec 3rd 2007 5:16PM]

At least the new ads won't bombard passengers with unwelcome sound unlike the incredibly irritating video screens inside the trains.

This sucks, the service is expensive enough that passengers deserve at least to be left in peace during the journey. I stopped using it because of the very high cost and the unwelcome TV broadcasts.

[Jeff @ Dec 3rd 2007 5:36PM]

agreed.

[Matt @ Dec 4th 2007 4:20AM]

there is a quiet train that has no tv playing.

and the tv that does play is pretty quiet and is not advertising but random tourist information.

just so everyone knows, that HEX does offer the quiet car(s).

its a great service no better way to get into Paddington.

[Jim @ Dec 4th 2007 6:50AM]

Exactly, there are quiet cars on the HEX.

Regarding the "high priced" comments...

Sure, it cost about 1 quid a minute (₤15.60 for a 15 minute train ride), but would you rather pay triple that and take a black cab and get there in 1/2 hour? Sorry, that logic doesn't make sense to me. I'd rather pay the HEX price for the convenience and time savings every day.

[furby @ Dec 3rd 2007 6:04PM]

I got on the Heathrow Express 2 weeks ago and this is already there, or maybe they were testing it. It was really quite cool seeing the video run, kind of like an animation.

The ad was for Windows Mobile

[furby @ Dec 3rd 2007 6:06PM]

Oops, maybe the version I saw was the static one. Ignore me

[Wwhat @ Dec 3rd 2007 6:25PM]

If the people just get together and pretend to have convulsions from time to time caused by this display for a while they can make it go away I bet.

[wgb @ Dec 3rd 2007 7:49PM]

I actually just got back yesterday from LHR to SFO and I did see this on the Heathrow Express. It was pretty neat and was showing a Windows Mobile ad. It was like flying past a large LCD monitor as you pass through a tunnel. It was pretty bright and does catches your eye!

[Jonathan Buford @ Dec 3rd 2007 9:38PM]

In Hong Kong, in the tunnel between Wan Chai and Causeway Bay they have synchronized video screens doing the same thing, only with video instead of paltry LEDs.

[Danger mouse @ Dec 3rd 2007 10:31PM]

This system was also installed in the Kuala Lumpur LRT system a few years ago, although not on such a large scale.
The LED ads ran for (if I remember) around 15 - 20 seconds, and looked pretty good.

The time synchronization however gradually got worse & I have not seen it in use since sometime in 2004. Perhaps the sensors for the train speeds were failing & not maintained.

[Simon @ Dec 4th 2007 9:44AM]

I have seen static images like this on the Ginza line in Tokyo,

They were around for a short while at the beginning of the year, but I haven't seen them since.

They looked cool, crazy to see something out of the windows when in the subway.

[ebanksy @ Dec 4th 2007 2:45PM]

This has been running for at maybe 3 months outbound at least - I used be sleepy at 6am and there it was every Monday morning, and I was like 'what the...'. I am certain I was the only one who noticed it.

Here's how it looks:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5ZblRnrRRw

and the company (flash only):
http://www.sidetrack.ca/