A recent campaign from confectionery brand Snickers transformed a real freight train into a moving billboard delivering a little humour and relief to West Aussie locals.

Australia has more than 23,000 level crossings where roads meet rail lines – and with some of the longest and busiest freight train routes in the world, those waits can feel endless. In Western Australia alone, there are around 1400 public railway crossings – and some are pretty famous for their marathon waits.

Perth’s Wharf Street crossing can be closed for up to seven hours a day, while Oats Street clocks around six hours with the boom gates down – leaving motorists stationary, bored, and hungry. Add that up over a daily commute, and motorists can lose days every year – and, over a lifetime, months of their life – just sitting at railway crossings.

Last month, the team at Snickers, known for satisfying hunger for more than 90 years, turned those long waits into something worth seeing by transforming trains into moving billboards.

“Most Aussies have been there – sitting at the railway crossing, watching wagon after wagon roll by, starting to get a little impatient, maybe a little hangry, and wishing we’d packed a snack. Turns out, we really should have,” said Richard Weisinger, Head of Brand and Content, Mars Wrigley Australia.

“We can’t make the trains go faster, but we wanted to make the wait feel shorter – and sweeter for our friends in Western Australia. The Snickers Hungry Train takes a shared Aussie experience and turns it into a light-hearted moment. It’s a simple, very Aussie way to show that when hunger hits, Snickers has your back.” Snickers’ Hungry Train travelled across Western Australia, departing from Forest Field Yard on 25 November, and passing through Rockingham Road, McTaggart Cove and Rollinson Road junctions.