Abellio Greater Anglia Branding

[XCTurbostar]

Hi all,

I just wanted to start a thread about how abellio brands it's east Anglia franchise.
It seems it was initially branded Greater Anglia then at some point the Abellio part was added to form Abellio Greater Anglia and now more recently it has gone back to Greater Anglia. Does Abellio like wasting money on stickers?

Thanks,
Ross

 

[Sleepy]

DfT decreed owning group not to be advertised so now new franchise = no Abellio

 

[dk1]

And also don't forget that as Stagecoach where initially onboard then pulled out it was always the intention to find another 40% partner. This was achieved a month or so back with Mitsui jumping onboard. I still dislike the Greater Anglia name but hey-ho, as long as they pay my wages & all that.

 

[387star]

In terms of past names this region has been a disaster

Ignoring the original anglia railways first great eastern (both incidentally superbly run) and the west anglia arm of wagn we have seen since the merge 'one' national express east anglia greater anglia abellio greater anglia and ow greater anglia again

Stansted express has seen at least six branding variations in recent years

However I have high hopes for greater anglia. Mtheir refreshes on the mk3/317/321/156 are actually to a very high standard with a tasteful colour scheme

I was thinking today how southeastern trains look really smart now and that is another toc that has improved immensely in recent times although work on the networkers has been painfully slow

 

[bramling]

In terms of past names this region has been a disaster

Ignoring the original anglia railways first great eastern (both incidentally superbly run) and the west anglia arm of wagn we have seen since the merge 'one' national express east anglia greater anglia abellio greater anglia and ow greater anglia again

Stansted express has seen at least six branding variations in recent years

However I have high hopes for greater anglia. Mtheir refreshes on the mk3/317/321/156 are actually to a very high standard with a tasteful colour scheme

I was thinking today how southeastern trains look really smart now and that is another toc that has improved immensely in recent times although work on the networkers has been painfully slow

Yes it has been a total shambles. Not just wasted money on brand names, but also livery changes.

I don't like the Greater Anglia name though- to me it means nothing at all. Great Eadtern Railway would be far more suitable.

 

[pdeaves]

Great Eadtern Railway would be far more suitable.

Great Eastern would be even better! (sorry...)

 

[chubs]

I think the franchise would have looked quite good if they had fully rolled out the 'One' livery.

Instead they did a lot of the EMU's and the mk3's really quickly and then it fizzled out, then they changed the tone of blue on later vinyl's, a lot never got done.

The dark colour scheme looked really good, even if the rainbows were a bit questionable.

 

[eastdyke]

I think the franchise would have looked quite good if they had fully rolled out the 'One' livery.

Instead they did a lot of the EMU's and the mk3's really quickly and then it fizzled out, then they changed the tone of blue on later vinyl's, a lot never got done.

The dark colour scheme looked really good, even if the rainbows were a bit questionable.

I agree re the mk3's and 90's that were done. Very smart.

But the name itself was not smart at all.

Many giggles at Norwich when the PA announced the 'xx.30 one trains service to London LS'. Late as usual?

 

[physics34]

I think the franchise would have looked quite good if they had fully rolled out the 'One' livery.

Instead they did a lot of the EMU's and the mk3's really quickly and then it fizzled out, then they changed the tone of blue on later vinyl's, a lot never got done.

The dark colour scheme looked really good, even if the rainbows were a bit questionable.

disagree mate.... the one livery was poor ...always looked like a matt finish.. and the name "one" was beyond ridiculous.

 

[Class 170101]

Yes it has been a total shambles. Not just wasted money on brand names, but also livery changes.

I don't like the Greater Anglia name though- to me it means nothing at all. Great Eadtern Railway would be far more suitable.

But you have forgotten about West Angliafrom Liverpool Street to Cambridge and Kings Lynn.

 

[jopsuk]

But you have forgotten about West Angliafrom Liverpool Street to Cambridge and Kings Lynn.

The line to Cambridge was built by the same company that built the bulk of the Great Eastern Mainline, the Eastern Counties Railway, which formed the core of the Great Eastern Railway when it formed 1869. "West Anglia Mainline" is a term that I think was invented by Network South East during it's route branding exercise. "Great Eastern" would not be an inaccurate name, the GER ran all the way to Hunstanton.

 

[chubs]

disagree mate.... the one livery was poor ...always looked like a matt finish.. and the name "one" was beyond ridiculous.

I much preferred it to the Anglia livery and original Great Eastern livery which looked really dated in the early 00's. The dark blue/purple corporate FGE livery was nice.

One day I want to see the whole fleet in one livery instead of the mishmash that has persisted for what must be at least 15 years? Did all the DMU's ever get done? I remember the intercity swallow mk2 rake that never made it.

 

[fairysdad]

I don't like the Greater Anglia name though- to me it means nothing at all.

As a mate said, 'Greater than what?'

 

[physics34]

I much preferred it to the Anglia livery and original Great Eastern livery which looked really dated in the early 00's. The dark blue/purple corporate FGE livery was nice.

One day I want to see the whole fleet in one livery instead of the mishmash that has persisted for what must be at least 15 years? Did all the DMU's ever get done? I remember the intercity swallow mk2 rake that never made it.

yeh the Green and Grey First livery was not good.! Well the whole fleet is getting replaced so youll see a single livery then!

 

[chubs]

Well the whole fleet is getting replaced so youll see a single livery then!

I'll believe it when I see it. It wouldn't surprise me in the least that they change their mind on livery half way through new fleet build, or something goes wrong with the franchise and it changes hands and that changes the livery.

 

[dk1]

disagree mate.... the one livery was poor ...always looked like a matt finish.. and the name "one" was beyond ridiculous.

I have never hated working for a company more than NX & have never been embarresed by a livery or name more than 'one'. Says it all really.

 

[Joe Paxton]

I have never hated working for a company more than NX & have never been embarresed by a livery or name more than 'one'. Says it all really.

Genuine question - ignoring the livery and the silly name,, what was so bad about working for NX?

 

[dk1]

Genuine question - ignoring the livery and the silly name,, what was so bad about working for NX?

I would say the industrial relations mate. It was quite a dark time & I know the financial crisis hit half way through but we have never had such ill feeling before or since. That and the way they appeared to screw down each franchise they had gave me this negative opinion.

 

[bramling]

I would say the industrial relations mate. It was quite a dark time & I know the financial crisis hit half way through but we have never had such ill feeling before or since. That and the way they appeared to screw down each franchise they had gave me this negative opinion.

I remember friends complaining that they went from a decent franchise under FGE and Anglia to a "bargain basement National Express" franchise.

However, from a passenger perspective, the neighbouring WAGN franchise improved greatly when it went from Prism to National Express. They really got hold of the operations side, in particular getting the driver establishment up to full strength. By the time it went to First it was a superb operation, so reliable that one could almost set a watch by the trains. Things dipped under First, and have since nosedived under GTR. C2c has also been reasonably well regarded, the recent timetable debacle aside, and Silverlink actually wasn't bad either, especially on the County side. Operationally Silverlink was excellent, they were let down by total lack of investment in stations. No idea what all these franchises were like to work for though.

 

[TheEdge]

Genuine question - ignoring the livery and the silly name,, what was so bad about working for NX?

I've only ever worked for Abellio but its worth noting the opinion of dk1 about the shadow of NX is not a lone one. Its fair to say a fair number of people were thinking about the plausibility of an early pension or career change when it was announced NX were in the run for the long franchise.

 

[Wivenswold]

For fear of digging up old arguments, FGE was superb but they inherited good track and with exception of the 312s a new fleet but they did seem to make an effort for passengers (the Weekend First pass for gold card holders and their families being one huge benefit).

First was an embarrassment from the station announcements "Train from platform one is the one o' five One train etc" to the really cheap-looking paint jobs." By 2004 the track, OHL and signals seemed like they were life-expired, the trains too. National Express only had control over the latter but they even seemed to fail on that one. Their refreshes were rudimentary. And that's being polite.

GA is a strong brand and the colour scheme is nice, but requires regular cleaning to maintain its appearance. I remain positive about their attempts to improve the service though.

 

[HH]

For fear of digging up old arguments, FGE was superb but they inherited good track and with exception of the 312s a new fleet but they did seem to make an effort for passengers (the Weekend First pass for gold card holders and their families being one huge benefit).

First was an embarrassment from the station announcements "Train from platform one is the one o' five One train etc" to the really cheap-looking paint jobs." By 2004 the track, OHL and signals seemed like they were life-expired, the trains too. National Express only had control over the latter but they even seemed to fail on that one. Their refreshes were rudimentary. And that's being polite.

GA is a strong brand and the colour scheme is nice, but requires regular cleaning to maintain its appearance. I remain positive about their attempts to improve the service though.

I think you mean One there...

National Express overbid for the franchise. They did manage to negotiate their way to a better deal, but they still were in cost cutting mode from day one. They also made a lot of bad decisions and lost droves of good people. The One fiasco didn't help, but the trains went the whole franchise without a proper refresh; ticket office windows were shut without adequate TVM replacement and stations generally were neglected.

With a decent refresh there was nothing wrong with the fleet they inherited.

Abellio are a different matter; the restrictions on the short franchise meant that there wasn't a great deal they could do and then that got extended thanks to DfT's problems. We can only judge them on what happens in the new franchise, but one thing I can say is that their hearts are in the right place - they really do want to improve things.

 

[chubs]

From another passengers point of view things seemed good under One for a year or so, then they seemed to stop caring.

The mk3's put into operation fresh from Virgin were disgusting, so looked amazing after the first refurb!

 

[dk1]

The mk3's put into operation fresh from Virgin were disgusting, so looked amazing after the first refurb!

But minus the plug sockets everybody said they should put in. That short sighted decision hung over the fleet for the next 10 years.

 

[387star]

Yeah the greater anglia md james burles I think seems genuinely interested in improving the region's rail service

The 170s are being refurbished now and look smart inside

 

[JaJaWa]

The 170s are being refurbished now and look smart inside

And here's a preview... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brFqAEKBaZs

 

[Wivenswold]

Thanks HH. I do get befuddled these days.

 

[chubs]

And here's a preview... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brFqAEKBaZs

Looks really good and clean. Much nicer than the ones with just the new seat covers and old everything else.

It says they are all being done by 201, does that include the current crash damaged one?

 

[TheEdge]

It says they are all being done by 201, does that include the current crash damaged one?

170204 remains an enigma. There still doesn't seem to be any concrete evidence if it will come back or be on its way to the scrapline.

170208 went either at the end of last week or start of this week.

 

[43096]

170204 remains an enigma. There still doesn't seem to be any concrete evidence if it will come back or be on its way to the scrapline.



170208 went either at the end of last week or start of this week.

If 170204 had been written off, wouldn't it have been stripped for parts and gone for scrap by now? The fact that it hasn't been seen suggests that it is inside works being repaired.