Random situation in the hairdressers last night getting the chop, got speaking to the hairdresser she asked what job I did I explained I worked in Railway Civil engineering. She then said so how long have you worked for British Rail and everytime it is said It is an almost insulting way! really tired so couldn't be bothered to go into it! I wondering how many more years before the name British Rail will slip out of public consiousness. I mean privatisation happened almost a lifetime ago. I wonder if after 1948 people still refered to the Great Western Rail etc! Do people still refer to BA as BOAC
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No it is not called British Rail anymore!!
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Lampshade
Established Member
It was such a strong brand it'll take quite a few more years to disappear from the public consciousness.
It seems British rail and network rail get confused a lot. I saw an article somewhere saying that graffiti on trains costs network rail 3.5 million a year, plus loss of revenue due to canceled services.
I'm guessing the source said. It costs the British rail industry, and someone's did a quick google for 'British rail'. And somehow network rail came into the quote
I'm guessing the source said. It costs the British rail industry, and someone's did a quick google for 'British rail'. And somehow network rail came into the quote
AlterEgo
Veteran Member
I have had people swear blind to me that a man in a "British Rail uniform" told them they could get on an earlier train with an Advance ticket.
Obviously a ghostly man who appeared in a wormhole from 1983...
Obviously a ghostly man who appeared in a wormhole from 1983...
HYPODERMIC
Member
It's a shame that privatisation destroyed the British Rail and InterCity brands. Regardless of the pros and cons of what happened, I think it was a mistake to let these brands slip away, especially as they were so successful and so memorable to passengers.
"National Rail" is a good attempt to recapture the BR brand in a way that describes non-heritage services, but sadly I suspect InterCity has probably lost its meaning these days anyway, with an increasing number of ill-suited DMUs/EMUs running long-distance services.
One night on the platform at Guildford Thames Trains had cancelled the last train to Reading. SWT were trying to help arrange taxi's to get the people home. Obviously the process is that a cost number had to be obtained off TT's control to authorise the taxi's otherwise SWT would have footed the bill. Their Control in Reading were really dragging their heels and it all was taking a long time. I tried to explain the process to an irate passenger who didn't get the fact that the railway system was privatised and kept shouting but you are all the same lot British Rail. In the end someone said to him if you are at Heathrow & your Quantas flight was cancelled would you expect BA to let you jump straight on one of their flights without Quantas paying for you?
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Schnellzug
Established Member
Rather more worryingly, you were in the hairdressers getting the chop? I do hope they're suitably qualified by the British Medical council.
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Temple Meads
Established Member
I know plenty of people who call Network Rail British Rail, not going to change while these are people are alive IMO.
you're making my eyes water!!
Schnellzug
Established Member
Oh, very much so, in fact they did right through to the 1960s. The Western region themselves tried very hard to do so.
Some elements of brand awareness will never go away.
My office will be full of people taking "a Virgin train..." somewhere, but you'll never hear "a Northern train..." or whatever. Better brand saturation.
"British Telecom" has started to drift now, in favour of "BT", with the way in which mobile phones etc. has saturated our daily lives. And the company itself uses "BT something" in its products so that has become a common reference point.
Rail is different. "British Rail" can also mean "Rail that is British", so as has been said, to a certain degree you can't kill it off entirely.
When I hear resigned commuters moan about their cramped conditions, I often hear "Sigh, British Rail huh!", and that can mean one of three things - "Oh dear, British Rail are rubbish, aren't they?"; "Oh dear, railways in Britain are rubbish, aren't they?"; "Oh blimey heck, why can't we have British Rail back, this new lot are rubbish, eh?"
My office will be full of people taking "a Virgin train..." somewhere, but you'll never hear "a Northern train..." or whatever. Better brand saturation.
"British Telecom" has started to drift now, in favour of "BT", with the way in which mobile phones etc. has saturated our daily lives. And the company itself uses "BT something" in its products so that has become a common reference point.
Rail is different. "British Rail" can also mean "Rail that is British", so as has been said, to a certain degree you can't kill it off entirely.
When I hear resigned commuters moan about their cramped conditions, I often hear "Sigh, British Rail huh!", and that can mean one of three things - "Oh dear, British Rail are rubbish, aren't they?"; "Oh dear, railways in Britain are rubbish, aren't they?"; "Oh blimey heck, why can't we have British Rail back, this new lot are rubbish, eh?"
Crossforth
Established Member
I keep getting asked how I'm doing at Railtrack when I'm at Network Rail.
I also here XC still being called Virgin Trains.
I also here XC still being called Virgin Trains.
Schnellzug
Established Member
Even, I bet, if it's been CrossCountry since 2007.
PHILIPE
Veteran Member
Wishful thinking perhaps.
Good point. If, over a prolonged amount of time, a word is associated with something, the general public will take a long time to use the new one.
"Cross Country" is a good brand, and its a very smart company with its imagery/logo, so maybe it will seep into the consciousness eventually.
"Cross Country" is a good brand, and its a very smart company with its imagery/logo, so maybe it will seep into the consciousness eventually.
LNW-GW Joint
Veteran Member
There are still signs on TfL stations pointing to "British Rail" as if nothing had changed.
I think Stratford is one of them.
I think Stratford is one of them.
Very right and proper. If these TOCs are indeed franchisees, then the overall network should be referred to as British Rail (with "This service is operated by ToyTown Buses" or some such in very small writing. Or, if the TOC wishes to take the whole risk, and actually invest something, let them pay for it.
Theres a lot to be said for a unified brand - particularly when it comes to corporate colour schemes, PR material etc.
I can see how people may find it confusing going to a station from a different operator to their normal and being unable to find timetables etc.
I was recently on a MerseyRail train from the Wirral to Lime St. On the approach to Lime St the guard usually says something to effect of 'the next station is lime st., change here for city line and long distance services'.
This time he said 'The next station is Liverpool Lime St, change here for InterCity and RegionalRail services'. However, that could have easily been 'The next station is Liverpool Lime St, change here for inter-city and regional rail services' - the capitalisation is important.
In ref to a previous post about the passenger saying they had been told by BR staff, i find the look of the Virgin platform/dispatcher staff uniform is similar to the old BR uniform (i'm thinking specifically of the thick heavy coat).
I can see how people may find it confusing going to a station from a different operator to their normal and being unable to find timetables etc.
I was recently on a MerseyRail train from the Wirral to Lime St. On the approach to Lime St the guard usually says something to effect of 'the next station is lime st., change here for city line and long distance services'.
This time he said 'The next station is Liverpool Lime St, change here for InterCity and RegionalRail services'. However, that could have easily been 'The next station is Liverpool Lime St, change here for inter-city and regional rail services' - the capitalisation is important.
In ref to a previous post about the passenger saying they had been told by BR staff, i find the look of the Virgin platform/dispatcher staff uniform is similar to the old BR uniform (i'm thinking specifically of the thick heavy coat).
Eagle
Established Member
Some of the tube lines make a distinction between "suburban" and "intercity" rail services. The Northern line, for instance, considers Waterloo to have intercity services (despite it never being a part of BR InterCity), but that Charing Cross only has suburban services—is Dover a suburb of London now?
Peter Mugridge
Veteran Member
When I tot my statistics up I just lump everything on the UK non-preserved mainlines together as "BR" rather than list each TOC out... ( And I use the older initials LRT rather than LUL for the Underground because the latter is something very rude in Dutch so I refuse to use it just in case...
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313103
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What doesn't help is that the double arrows which signified British Rail adorns virtually all National rail stations.
People see the sign and think ahh a British Rail station!
People see the sign and think ahh a British Rail station!
route:oxford
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Eagle
Established Member
Has it? I know there were trains to all sorts of weird destinations from Waterloo during Eurostar fever, but I thought those were all post-privatization.
Xenophon PCDGS
Veteran Member
British Rail...that's just one. What about Red Star and City Link?
Surely if it has express passenger trains, it counts as intercity despite never having been under the InterCity brand.
MCR247
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