A new livery for all GB trains - what colour d'ya want?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

We are told that there is to be a standard GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) font - will there be a standard colour (livery) too?   If so, what would you like to see.  Purely for fun; there's too much serious stuff around at the moment - poll over the weekend.

Multiple votes allowed - so members can choose a number of colours they would be happy with.

Please don't spend all your time on this thread - have a look at the very serious stuff too!

[Lee]

Second Class Standard Accomodation

[ellendune]

Is Williams advocating a new livery for all GB^▸ (Great Britain) trains?  I haven't found any reference to it?  Actually so long as they do not waste money repainting trains every time a new operator takes over I am quite happy with different liveries. 

[johnneyw]

I think it would be popular to have something in the liveries to reflect either the different historic regional identities or of any new ones that may result from the reorganisation.

[JayMac]

Inter-City Swallow and IC^▸ (Inter City) Executive for long distance services please.

[jamestheredengine]

I've voted for Dark Green – I like the current GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) livery, except for one thing: it would be really good to have the yellow stripe above the windows on First Class carriages back – it's hard to eyeball which way round the train is.

[CyclingSid]

Beware management spending lots of money tarting up existing/old trains so they can have their piccies taken in front of them.

Personally I don't care what colour they are, providing they get me where I want, when I want and I am not out of pocket (much?) more than I am now.

[Lee]

Beware management spending lots of money tarting up existing/old trains so they can have their piccies taken in front of them.

Why not? It worked for Network SouthEast, which is the glorious sub-£1 billion railway era that the politicians have convinced themselves they are going back to.

Personally, I will be gobsmacked if the new livery isn't Union Jacks all round, or a suite of livery variants thereof.

[RichardB]

Here's what it says in the White Paper (p33) -

"There will be a national brand and identity
to emphasise that the railways are one
connected network.

The rail network should feel like a network, a coherent, consistent,
clearly-branded operation that gives passengers confidence
in using it. Most successful consumer businesses, including
retailers and airlines, aim to create similar levels of consistency
and brand identity.

Great British Railways will use updated versions of the classic
‘double arrow’ logo as well as the Rail Alphabet typeface, used
in this document. Even after 25 years of privatisation, the logo
remains the most widely-used and best-recognised symbol of the
railways. It is the standard marker on road signs. It appears on
most tickets, online, and at the vast majority of stations. It will stay
in those places and increasingly appear on trains, uniforms and
publicity material too as and when these are upgraded or replaced
as a single, unifying brand for the railways. Keeping it also avoids
spending money on yet another new railway logo.

People are understandably sceptical about the frequent
rebranding of trains and stations carried out under the
privatised system, so the branding will be introduced alongside
other improvements. 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."

[Lee]

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."

That's very interesting indeed. An "arms-length" Scottish government company will take over the running of services there in March 2022, while the Transport for Wales rail service has been run by a Welsh Government controlled public company since February 2021.

Both already have their own corporate liveries, logos and branding - Will they be required to now use variants to the Great British Railways national brand, and can they be legally forced to if they and the devolved administrations refuse?

[rower40]

I don't think we'll get a choice. 
It'll be whatever colour(s) the local teenagers happen to have in their spray-cans.

[eightonedee]

People are understandably sceptical about the frequent
rebranding of trains and stations carried out under the
privatised system, so the branding will be introduced alongside
other improvements. 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.

In the spirit of-

People are understandably sceptical about the frequent
rebranding of trains and stations carried out under the
privatised system,

Lets bring back-

Brown for the west
Malachite green for the south
Red for the Midlands
Dark Blue for East Anglia
Orange for the north east
Light blue for Scotland

Anything left for Wales?

[broadgage]

Choice of livery is a long way down my list of concerns.

For all its faults, the privatised railway DID^▸ (Didcot Parkway) vastly increase passenger numbers compared to the managed decline under BR^▸ (British Rail(ways)).

I would like see more train building in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) rather than importing everything.
New trains with standardised couplings for ease of assisting failures.
All new electric trains being fitted with a either small diesel engine, or a battery for limited use when the wires come down.
A yellow stripe to denote first class.
A red stripe to indicate the buffet or restaurant.
New trains being of a few standardised mechanical designs, with only internal fit out differing according to use.

All the above are much more important than choice of livery IMHO^▸ ('in my humble opinion').

[PrestburyRoad]

I vote for any colour that doesn't show the dirt if the carriage washers are broken.

[Jamsdad]

Maybe a uniformity of seat comfort, levelling up by refitting GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) IET^▸ (Intercity Express Train - replacement for HSTs (manufactured by Hitachi in Kobe, Japan)) slab board seats to a comfort standard enjoyed elsewhere in the country.

Sorry I just saw a flying pig.