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

[whole diary]

[broadgage]

I am capable of sanitising my own telephone, either at home or in the workplace.

I welcome a simpler railway, with more emphasis on the actual trains, and with less effort wasted on brands, liveries, and publicity.
The best advert is the customer who says "I got the train from ABC to XYZ last week and was impressed with the speed, comfort and facilities"

All too often in recent years we hear the opposite of a potential customer vowing "never again" after being hugely delayed, or paying hundreds of pounds to stand for hours.

No amount of advertising and brand awareness compensates for trains that are regularly too short, unreliable, uncomfortable or considered unsatisfactory in other ways.

[Surrey 455]

You need to be careful which roles you abolish. From Collateral Damage - an old blog

Douglas Adams right again: Lack of phone sanitizers will doom planet

Researchers have now confirmed Mr. A’s prophecy, finding that the phone is indeed a key spreader of germs. According to Charles Gerba, a microbiologist and clean water expert at the University of Arizona, it’s telephones and computer keyboards that are among the most germ laden spots in any home, not the usual suspects.

You have roles which you might query and wonder if you really need but, my goodness me, we have seen a platoon of people in these previously-ridiculed roles grow to a complete division, and with evidence that we should be very thankful to them.

Fortunately we are all descended from people whose job was sanitising telephones (and hairdressers) so I think we'll be OK in the end. 

See / hear / read the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy to understand this sentence.

[Western Pathfinder]

Normality will be restored just as soon as we know what normal is !!...

[grahame]

What should the base colour(s) of the new livery for GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) be?  (Voting closed: Today at 10:06:01 am)

Dark Green   - 10 (10.9%)
Maroon   - 8 (8.7%)
Navy Blue   - 5 (5.4%)
Light Grey   - 3 (3.3%)
Chocolate and Cream   - 7 (7.6%)
Maroon and Cream   - 5 (5.4%)
Blue and Grey   - 8 (8.7%)
Red, white and blue   - 5 (5.4%)
Yellow   - 1 (1.1%)
Pink   - 2 (2.2%)
Orange   - 1 (1.1%)
Black   - 2 (2.2%)
Malachite   - 5 (5.4%)
Every carriage different   - 4 (4.3%)
Different for long distance, regional and local   - 19 (20.7%)
Something else   - 7 (7.6%)

Total Voters: 41

Well - beyond the desire for a differentiation between short, medium and long distance train liveries, that's a pretty inconclusive poll. All the more remarkable because "studies have shown that a products's color influenced 60 to 80% of a customer's purchasing decision" according to an article I quoted earlier.  And indeed "color can make or break a product".

I'm not sure I believe that the colour is quite to much of an influencer when travelling by train though.  On the now-rare occasions that a blue one turns up, I don't see people saying "I'll wait for the next one - it may be green ..."

But, actually, I  personally like a bit of variety.   It used to feel like an old friend had arrived when Casper turned up.   Who knows - someone might suggest painting dinosaurs on trains to make them interesting and attractive to leisure travellers next.


In all seriousness, I suspect that looking clean even when they're not, being a safe colour to see, and not fading will also be used to inform any changes we see, and a logo switch to a modernised double arrow may be all we see soon, with a very gradual changed within the fleet.

[broadgage]

No objection to painting dinosaurs on trains, provided that this costs "the railway" nothing whatsoever and that whoever fancies  the dinosaur livery pays for it.

I would even allow adverts on the outside of the train, again provided that the advertiser pays for the privilege. Adverts on buses are generally accepted after all.
I would even allow p0litical adverts during election campaigns, no different in principle to paid for posters on advertising hoardings, and a useful source of revenue.

I would prohibit adverts for products or services that in direct competition to railway services, or that are damaging to the environment.
Adverts for Butlins ? certainly.
Adverts for Disneyworld, USA ? no way.
Adverts for Disneyworld in France ? maybe if it includes promoting train travel thereto.
Adverts for local buses that connect with trains ? certainly.
Adverts for long distance buses that COMPETE with trains ? no way.

[Witham Bobby]

Fortunately we are all descended from people whose job was sanitising telephones (and hairdressers) so I think we'll be OK in the end. 

See / hear / read the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy to understand this sentence.

The answer is 42.  Some days, the plan to demolish the planet seems quite desirable

[the void]

I think this speculation of a new standard livery is off the mark. I think we are more likely to see individual TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) retaining their own identities, with the addition of the new GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) logo (whatever that might look like), tucked away somewhere discretely.

Much like how the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) livery has ‘a FirstGroup company’ and CrossCountry has ‘by Arriva’ in fairly small lettering, I think we’ll simply see ‘part of Great British Railways’ added to the corner of existing liveries.

If all the trains and uniforms were branded the same how would anyone know who to complain to?! 

[Electric train]

I think this speculation of a new standard livery is off the mark. I think we are more likely to see individual TOCs^▸ (Train Operating Company) retaining their own identities, with the addition of the new GBR^▸ (Great British Railways) logo (whatever that might look like), tucked away somewhere discretely.

Much like how the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) livery has ‘a FirstGroup company’ and CrossCountry has ‘by Arriva’ in fairly small lettering, I think we’ll simply see ‘part of Great British Railways’ added to the corner of existing liveries.

If all the trains and uniforms were branded the same how would anyone know who to complain to?! 

Absolutely GBR will not be the train operator, they will be awarding contracts to run services and there is a lot to be said for some or the brands such as GWR, LNER^» (London North Eastern Railway - about) etc 

[Clan Line]

If all the trains and uniforms were branded the same how would anyone know who to complain to?! 

.....but there won't be anything to complain about