Railway officials blamed recession for the zero response. “When it comes to cost cutting, companies start with advertising expenses,” a WR official said. The CR earned Rs 22 crore by selling its adverting space while the WR earned Rs 13 crore. However, the revenue of both the railways from freight charges had been more despite the recession.

The CR, last year, had floated tenders for selling advertising space on its premises, which included the entire Mumbai division, and the base price of the tender was Rs 68 crore. Similarly, the WR had floated tenders to sell advertising space on station premises of the Mumbai division. The tenders were to be awarded for the period of five years. With every passing year, the railway was supposed to get five per cent more than what the parties had quoted for winning the bid. But neither of the railways got any response.

As per rules, the railway should give its advertising rights to the private parties who would sell every possible space except the space on the train. This includes space on the platform and hoardings.

The WR had floated fresh tenders by lowering its base price from Rs 52.21 crore to Rs 40.50 crore, but it too did not find any takers. The CR, too, had lowered its base price by half — from Rs 68 crore to Rs 34 crore. “We will be floating fresh tenders soon,” Central Railway chief spokesperson Shriniwas Mudgerikar said.