British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Instead, I just added an icon next to the full text and removed it from the main station name. The colour often appears inaccurately in photographs, generally appearing brighter and bluer than the real colour. I agree I think the NR logo in the circle looks better, but GBR is such a mouthful - its just latent fear of the British Rail brand. JavaScript is disabled. But do we really want to go back to that? Someone will design a great livery in the future and someone else will design a crap livery. JavaScript is disabled. Likes Received: 1,930. The purpose of this call for evidence was to develop an understanding of how much of the current and future market demand for freight could be met by rail, and the role rail can play in the nations supply chains. It might have the operator identified in a small way too. The FT reports: The reforms will still allow private companies to run services but they will instead work under a more prescriptive management contract, similar to the system in place on the London Overground.. Infrastructure, passenger, and freight services were separated at that time. I don't see what's wrong with Rail Alphabet which is rather older than the 1980s - to be frank the branding shouts 60s, a period of branding I personally like but obviously that *is* personal - although you could just use Frutiger to keep the tie in with the other large national service, the NHS ( who used to use Rail Alphabet too ). The 25 kV electric locomotives were painted from new in a striking shade of bright blue which was known as "Electric Blue". It may not display this or other websites correctly. Non-corridor coaching stock and other multiple units received all-over Rail Blue until about 1980, when most received the same blue/grey livery as corridor coaching stock. There have also been subtle font changes. 3 Apr 2022 . I just see the thing as extremely surface level. I still think" Great British Railways" will be mostly likely be termed GBR, most of the time. Suffice to say, an actual English nationalist would not be passing controversial legislation to enable Westminster to spend even more money on Northern Ireland, as this Government is. At the formation of British Railways on 1 January 1948, early diesel and electric locos and the gas turbine locomotives 18000 and 18100 were already painted black with aluminium trim, but by the late 1950s this had been superseded by the same shade of green that was used on express passenger steam locomotives, although some locomotives were painted in a two-tone Brunswick and Sherwood green livery, and Southern Region electric locomotives were painted a light shade of malachite green. And if Northern are still running trains to Glasgow, a new paint job would be a great moment for the Government to stump up for good rolling stock. That's a different argument (which I disagee with but that's not for this thread). Boris Johnson has announced that Britain is to have a new public rail operator, Great British Railways (GBR), in the biggest shake-up of the country's trains since privatisation a quarter. For 2mm/N equivalents, change the start of the reference number FRH4 for FRH2. Id like GN non-Moorgate stuff to join Greater Anglia, as they dont fit in LNER imo. I dont think we will see train liveries being changed for a while. Why do you show the double-arrow logo *and* the words "Great British Railways"? Construction of the first locomotive was completed in the final week of September 1957, and the handing-over took place on 31 October. Our railways play a fundamental role in supporting the economic, environmental and social achievements of the country. They are an intercity operator. They were numbered in two series, D5500-D5699 and D5800-D5862. The Union Jack will represent. This was later modified for locomotives allocated to the Civil Engineer's department to include a yellow stripe on the upper bodyside, the resulting livery being known as "Dutch" due to its similarity to the corporate colours of the Nederlandse Spoorwegen.[18]. This grey panel finished just short of the end of the coach leaving a small amount of Rail Blue which then continued round onto the end of the coach. The pleasure's all mine. One of the big ones is an end to endless rebranding of trains when the operator changes with various bit of old livery hanging about for a long time, never mind the cost and waste involved. [7], GBR will use a slightly modified British Rail Double Arrow and the Rail Alphabet 2 typeface for branding. But theres no particular reason this should be. Within a period of 10 years, HSTs had three different liveries. But such an approach offers a bleak long-term outlook for the UK. This competition aimed to identify a place with a rich railway heritage, strong links to the national network and significant public support, while creating a great opportunity to promote the location as the proud home for the start of a new era in Britains railways. But do you think Queen Nicola would accept trains branded as "Rail England" coming across the border? GBR is similar enough to channel some continuity with BR but distinct enough to admit it's a different entity. For locomotives used on internal British Rail duties, a separate livery of a plain darker grey was created. I never knew I had OCD until that remark lol. The easiest way to guarantee readibility at night would be to use retroreflective coatings, like those used on road signs. But thats the insidious appeal of nationalism: it willalwaysbe easier, in the short term, to spurn complicating national attachments in favour of tacking to local winds and making off with as much cash as you can lay your hands on. And although BR did changes, it was still the same basic livery really. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies, and was privatised in stages between 1994 and 1997. It may not display this or other websites correctly. A bit like this but without the fuzzy outline on the text and double arrow (caused by MS Paint's paint bucket tool): Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; I had a play around with this, and I agree, it looks. European paint code RAL5020 ("Ocean Blue") is a good match to Rail Blue. And Great Britain is more often than not used to mean the whole of England/Scotland/Wales, excluding Northern Ireland - a legacy of the Kingdom of Great Britain, which existed from 1707 to 1800. Clean, modern, easy to read, looks good and in the right colour set. In 1956 an all-over darker maroon, which more closely resembled the pre-nationalisation LMS livery, was re-introduced, except for the Southern Region, where locomotive-hauled stock was generally painted 'coaching stock' green (from July 1956-on) and a small number of express carriages on the Western Region which were in traditional GWR-style chocolate and cream. Or the awful corporate blue BR? London Midland (pre LNR), that was white on black but the same idea. Now there's a system others can look up to. Coaches from different regions could also often find themselves coupled together and trains of 2 or 3 mixed liveries were not uncommon. 1948 -. In terms of signage, here's what I was working on this morning: Compared to the superb branding packages of TfW and ScotRail, it does not say "come use the railway, it's good", it says "we have spent the bare minimum, stick to your car". Every TfW station I've been to are still ATW-branded (in fact, Hereford yesterday). The double arrow is still overused, though. The old BR liveries look dated now and have done for a while. Northern and TPE split into separate Northwest and Northeast brands. Consisting of three shades of grey and thus known as "triple grey Railfreight", the livery included logos on the sides and cabs of locomotives indicating which sector they belonged to. This style of livery was also used by CSX Transportation. Introduced in 1965, and also known as "Monastral Blue", the colour was defined by British Rail standards BR28/6001 (Airless spray finish) and BR28/5321 (Brush finish). [17] This livery is also often nicknamed 'toothpaste livery' by rail enthusiasts due to the multicoloured stripes resembling striped toothpaste. The Great British Railways Transition Team (GBRTT) seeks to deliver the most ambitious changes to our railways in a generation, working with the government and across the rail sector. In 1964, as part of a plan to develop a new corporate image for British Railways, a number of experiments were tried; Discussions on the livery for British Railways coaching stock in 1948 eventually settled on a network-wide two-tone livery of crimson and cream for corridor coaches, with all-over crimson being used for local, non-corridor stock. GBR is currently running a competition to find a town or city outside London to host its headquarters. Railfreight livery, a colour scheme specifically for freight locomotives, was unveiled when Class 58 58001 drove through a plastic screen at Doncaster Works on 9 December 1982. Also, yes, the actual report has a typo, it really does say 'refect' instead of 'reflect'. Then why was the old version called British Railways, not Great British Railways, and why the change now for the new version if British Railways worked? The great livery might only look good on certain trains, while on others it looks rubbish. What is wrong with different routes and regions having different liveries? Just like when a new TOC has taken on a franchise, the old TOC name gets removed and the new TOC name gets badged in top, like a big rectangular sticker. Thanks. Because for my money blue & grey is not the "same basic livery" as Swallow, neither is NSEs toothpaste anything like the red and cream worn in the 50s. I suspect not many. True. [9][10] Several other Class 47 locomotives, some Class 31s, and even some DMU cabs, were subsequently also painted by Stratford with grey roofs, the variation becoming something of a trademark for the depot. I personally do not think there should be a standard livery across the network on the grounds that regional identity would be lost. Heh. If only we were to see a coherent joined up livery scheme to run nationwide like the picture above , however I rather suspect this will not be the case. And again, there may be scope to take back control of this. With the publication of the Williams review and the announcement of the renationalization of British Passenger Rail, i thought i might help out anyone exited for new liveries or branding for trains.. Variants to the national brand will be developed to refect the English regions, Scotland and Wales, while emphasising that the railway is one network serving the whole of Great Britain. Today I would like to make a rather general suggestion rather than something specific. BRs own history says otherwise. "Image of No.47163 with Silver Jubilee Union Jack", History of Blood and Custard (Crimson Lake & Cream) Livery, Information on Freight Locomotive Liveries & logos, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=British_Rail_corporate_liveries&oldid=1136093401, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2014, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. One thing that might work, though, would be to drop the full text from the red band and just have a subtle double arrow on the right hand side in that. We will probably get something like this Shorthand and in general parlance yes, but Great British Railways will be a brand that the DfT will want to get out there sooner rather than later, even if it is just a vinyl on top of existing TOC names. [6], The Vale of Rheidol Railway remained steam operated past the general end of steam traction in 1968; Accordingly the three remaining Vale of Rheidol Railway steam locomotives (Class 98) received the Rail Blue colour scheme and the double arrow logo on their side tanks. The Class 309 units worked between Liverpool Street and Clacton, occasionally also to Ipswich and Norwich and later upon transfer saw the livery briefly appear around Manchester and Birmingham. How many people list how attractive a train is when you ask them why they decided to go by car or train? Then why was the old version called British Railways, not Great British Railways, and why the change now for the new version if British Railways worked . Why does it need to look the part - what does nationalisation look like? particularly associated with the depots at Old Oak Common and Privacy Noticeand Website Accessibility. Rail Express Systems was the sector of British Rail responsible for transport of mail and parcels traffic. Great Western Railways/British Railway Western Region. The first break in the uniformity of Rail Blue came in 1976 with the introduction of the first InterCity 125 (HST). I imagine the LNER and GWR branding will be around the longest, as its allready kind of govt created and most in line with DfT standards. JavaScript is disabled. Thus Class 47 47170 County of Norfolk, allocated to Stratford and a regular performer on trains between Liverpool Street and Norwich, was painted in Large Logo livery. Whatever its failings and they were multitude branding was one thing British Rail took seriously and was remarkably good at. It may not display this or other websites correctly. GBR will develop masterplans for station renewal. Its not as if they need the advertising, nor do their brands carry the historic and emotional heft that the famous schemes of the genuinely private railways did. GBR will absorb Network Rail, although overall strategic direction on infrastructure investment and fares strategy will remain with government. Judging from the signage and station painting they will choose something somewhere between boring and ugly, and we will be stuck with it everywhere, for ages. I reckon a simple logo like the one youve depicted will be what we see. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. I personally like this Lion logo posted by Tim Dunn on twitter a few years ago, Not at all. The Tories, particulary this present mob of throwbacks, have long since co-opted the "great" in "Great Britain" to mean "very good"and it's xenophobic, imperialist undertones me me want to vomit. The special saloons and a few other special coaches were also repainted in chocolate and cream but regular former GWR coaches carried maroon. | Page 27 | RailUK Forums We're pleased to announce the launch of our new booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk, which helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchased. But it invites an obvious question: what is to be done about it? Due to the small number of units repainted it was common to see trains with two or more units in different liveries. We use cookies. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. All Regions. Like the Thameslink 700 "can't be bothered" livery. But the point is that effort has gone into developing a brand and what it stands for, it isn't just harking back to the awful 1970s, a time people seem to be seeing with a large pair of rose tinted spectacles. Aren't best impressions the ones that did the 2015 Virgin East Coast HST? . [7]. Recognising this, the Plan for Rail recommended the development of a 30-year strategy to determine how best the railways can support Britain in the future. It is known as Great because it is the largest island in the British Isles, and houses the countries of England, Scotland and Wales within its shores. [13], On 5 February 2022, the Department for Transport launched a public consultation for the location of GBRs headquarters. One overarching brand, with sub brands sitting below it, for long distance services and regional brands all under the GBR moniker, much like we do today with Southern, South Eastern, South Western, Northern, etc. Not so much the modern LNER though. The coaches for the XP64 train were painted in a slightly lighter version of what would eventually become Rail Blue, with a 44-inch-wide (1,100mm) Pale Ivory stripe centred on the passenger windows, and brown underframe. I can sort of understand lumping Moorgate services in with London Overground, but LNER to Kings Lynn has been suggested many times without any compelling reason as to why, beyond "something something intercity standard", This idea often seems to pop its head up. The British Isles is a the collection of European islands consisting of Great Britain, the island of Ireland, Isle of Man and the northern islands that are part of Scotland. Feb 1, 2020. I tried going with the National Rail icon in the right hand side, but it was too small and nobody would notice it. [16] As well as rolling stock and multiple units, a number of Class 47 and Class 50 locomotives dedicated to Network SouthEast passenger services were painted in this livery. 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