Livery under Great British Railways

[Ashley Hill]

Perhaps variations on the old Intercity liveries. Red stripe for intercity,light blue for Scotland,dark blue provincial etc.

 

[LLivery]

Government owned LNER does and nobody cares


Why not?

LNER isn't an English wide livery. It's not the equivalent of ScotRail. You don't see Enterprise in the NI Railways or Irish Rail livery, apart from the odd fleet cover.

c2c - why would you keep in microbrand, which no one knows what it even means in a unified railway? A brand name for 28 stations would defeat the point of a unified brand. It'd a waste of resources and as far as I'm aware, is brand not owned by government, so they can't use it anyway.

 

[irish_rail]

Perhaps variations on the old Intercity liveries. Red stripe for intercity,light blue for Scotland,dark blue provincial etc.

That would get my vote. Would be smart and consistent , though I feel it isn't brash enough for the age we live in sadly.

 

[Sorcerer]

Considering that GBR will be split into regions, with the Scottish and Welsh governments making their own political decisions about their respective railways, it's fair to say that we could see each region having it's own livery while trains that cross boundaries, such as current intercity ones by LNER, Avanti and CrossCountry, and regional express ones by TPE, will have their own distinctive livery. I especially can't see ScotRail's saltire livery going anywhere, and in fact I would like it not to. It's one of the best on the network in my opinion.

 

[RailWonderer]

Bad example. The 175’s are in TfW colours which won’t come under GBR so would need re-doing anyway.

GB includes England, Wales and Scotland as in the island of Great Britain excluding Northern Ireland so technically Wales should be included. Otherwise a totally different naming system should be used.
TfW, Scotrail, Northern Railways, Midlands Rail, SouthWestern, Intercity, London Regional.

 

[Neptune]

GB includes England, Wales and Scotland as in the island of Great Britain excluding Northern Ireland so technically Wales should be included. Otherwise a totally different naming system should be used.
TfW, Scotrail, Northern Railways, Midlands Rail, SouthWestern, Intercity, London Regional.

Yes I understand the geography of Great Britain but it’s irrelevant in this context.

Scotrail and TfW rail will be separate entities from GBR though. It’s been mentioned many times before including the post just before yours.

 

[OneTrackMinded]

- it's all Southern, t

Let's hope they don't paint it all green then.. cant't bare that livery with it's 2010 aesthetic and it's lack of modern feel

Has anyone considered there would be a "metro" section of GBR?

 

[Sorcerer]

Has anyone considered there would be a "metro" section of GBR?

Quite possibly something like the Paris RER where it's owned by both SNCF (national operator) and RATP (public transit authority of Paris) maybe? If that were the case then while you could end up with multiple liveries for each line, I'd think the more likely outcome is putting some of these metro-style services in the same livery as the Elizabeth Line as part of some new Crossrail network since that's currently the closest equivalent to the Paris RER but has just one colour scheme.

 

[HSTEd]

Could just paint the trains black with silver or white doors for contrast.

The dirt won't show so much at least!

 

[pokemonsuper9]

Overground and Elizabeth Line probably wouldn't be touched, it makes more sense to have them feeling like TfL rather than GBR.

I like most liveries that are around currently, but it'll be interesting to see if anything happens.

 

[m79900]

Just bring back Blue/Grey, I say. Smart, Simple, and easily recognisable.

 

[Neptune]

Could just paint the trains black with silver or white doors for contrast.

The dirt won't show so much at least!

I take it you’ve never owned a black car. The hardest colour to keep clean. I’ve had most colours and silver was actually the easiest to keep looking clean.

Just bring back Blue/Grey, I say. Smart, Simple, and easily recognisable.

Why does the UK obsess with the past so much. It’s so sad that people don’t want to look to the future.

 

[OneTrackMinded]

Why does the UK obsess with the past so much. It’s so sad that people don’t want to look to the future.

Ditto

 

[LLivery]

Let's hope they don't paint it all green then.. cant't bare that livery with it's 2010 aesthetic and it's lack of modern feel

Has anyone considered there would be a "metro" section of GBR?

Southern as in the NR Southern Region. Govia Southern is actually my favourite current livery and I think it's aged well, despite me thinking it's due a re-do, but we all have our own views.

Considering heritage, and if regional branding becomes a thing, I would expect a Southern green, but any unified green would be replaced with a new version - not a continuation of Govia's. Refurbished footbridges on the Southeastern network have/are being painted green, yellow and white, and they look great IMO.

Metro GBR - closest we'd get would be either Thameslink or Birmingham Snow Hills, surley?

Why does the UK obsess with the past so much. It’s so sad that people don’t want to look to the future.

The 'good old days' plagues this country. The problem is, in the good old days, people were saying the past were the 'good old days'!

 

[vuzzeho]

Reusing old BR liveries won't work, trains are a lot more styled and curvy that back in BR days, look at LNER, the livery they've put the Mk4 sets into looks really good, but it wouldn't sit well on the 800s at all.



Honestly, that's awful, the branding doesn't work and the big yellow square just looks messy.

I agree (with the first part) - they probably won't just straight up use the BR liveries but base whatever's next off those liveries/draw HEAVY inspiration from them

 

[HSTEd]

I take it you’ve never owned a black car. The hardest colour to keep clean. I’ve had most colours and silver was actually the easiest to keep looking clean.

Why does the UK obsess with the past so much. It’s so sad that people don’t want to look to the future.

Well it fits with the standard declinist narrative.

If black is not suitable, there is always "all over grey".

Or if we want something a little less bleak, dark blue or dark purple or similar could work.

Maybe just use iridescent paint!

 

[Neptune]

I agree (with the first part) - they probably won't just straight up use the BR liveries but base whatever's next off those liveries/draw HEAVY inspiration from them

Why would that happen though. BR ended nearly 30 years ago. People really need to get out of this harking back to the past mindset and look to the future. The world has moved on and despite what people think (enthusiasts or those with an axe to grind against the company they work for in the main it seems) it’s the chance to reset with a completely clean slate, not go back to a time which is mainly looked at with rose tinted glasses. I started as an apprentice under BR in the late 80’s and I can tell you that it wasn’t as glorious as many seem to want to make out. Why do so many people want to drag us back in time?

 

[m79900]

Why would that happen though. BR ended nearly 30 years ago. People really need to get out of this harking back to the past mindset and look to the future. The world has moved on and despite what people think (enthusiasts or those with an axe to grind against the company they work for in the main it seems) it’s the chance to reset with a completely clean slate, not go back to a time which is mainly looked at with rose tinted glasses. I started as an apprentice under BR in the late 80’s and I can tell you that it wasn’t as glorious as many seem to want to make out. Why do so many people want to drag us back in time?

This reminds me of James May ranting about the Rover 75 . I agree with you to a point, but I think that modernising a former BR livery would be a good idea. Even you can't deny that LNER's 225s look ace.

 

[vuzzeho]

Why would that happen though. BR ended nearly 30 years ago. People really need to get out of this harking back to the past mindset and look to the future. The world has moved on and despite what people think (enthusiasts or those with an axe to grind against the company they work for in the main it seems) it’s the chance to reset with a completely clean slate, not go back to a time which is mainly looked at with rose tinted glasses. I started as an apprentice under BR in the late 80’s and I can tell you that it wasn’t as glorious as many seem to want to make out. Why do so many people want to drag us back in time?

I completely agree. I just believe that liveries inspired by BR are most likely. I at least hope that they modernise it suitably, over just slapping IC Swallow on a 390 and calling it a day. Ideally, I'd want an all-new livery that pays homage to what came before but is a totally new, separate thing designed for the 2020s and beyond.

 

[Rail Quest]

I agree with you to a point, but I think that modernising a former BR livery would be a good idea. Even you can't deny that LNER's 225s look ace.

Where I would take issue here is that GBR is not a move to how things were in BR days so the re-adoption or adaption of an old BR livery in the way the LNER have taken is pushing the wrong message to what GBR is.

Side note: I don't personally like the LNER 225 IC liveries, just personal preference (and that's all anyone's opinions on liveries are unless referring to objective elements to colour schemes, such as accessibility).

The world has moved on and despite what people think (enthusiasts or those with an axe to grind against the company they work for in the main it seems) it’s the chance to reset with a completely clean slate, not go back to a time which is mainly looked at with rose tinted glasses.

100%

 

[OneTrackMinded]

BR was not just sunshine and rainbows like some believe

 

[Neptune]

This reminds me of James May ranting about the Rover 75 . I agree with you to a point, but I think that modernising a former BR livery would be a good idea. Even you can't deny that LNER's 225s look ace.

Not quite sure what is intended by the words ‘even you’ but anyway they look ok but then again it’s a livery style which was designed for them nearly 40 years ago so should sit ok on them. It would not work on an Azuma or one of the new Civities which are on order.

If people think GBR will be some sort of BR nostalgia trip then they’re in for a big disappointment and should stick to preserved railways for that sort of thing.

 

[Mr. SW]

This...?

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[okakaka]

I think it should have livery based off the old Big 4 (LNER; LMS; GWR; Southern (+CrossCountry)). Would help to distinguish whilst maintaining a collective brand.

 

[waveyswirley]

I'd have a two colour livery for all trains, the silver/grey that's currently on TfW trains and a colour which changes depending on region. For "regional" trains the livery would be accents of this colour on a silver background (think current TfW trains), and vice versa for "intercity" trains: a block colour background with accents of silver (think GWR class 802). And of course a massive national rail logo in the accent colour

 

[Meerkat]

What is the obsession with a unified livery - the rail blue days were grim.
A unified livery stinks of a distant government imposition, with a whiff of communism. Local liveries give a feeling of local ownership (our trains) and people care more about things they identify with.
The only unified thing should be the double arrow.
There is also the rather important fact that if you make it all look the same then it gets associated with the lowest denominator. Rather than express glamour the shiniest intercity service is still the same people who make one’s commute so grim. It’s all stereotype British Rail, rather than “their trains are rubbish, but our ones are better”. See car makers and all their brands to remove the nice stuff from the ordinary - Lexus, Cupra…. They don’t stick SEAT badges on Bentleys.

 

[Yew]

I doubt that anything would be done immediately but I'm guessing that stock would be slowly rebranded when going through refresh works or as new trains join the network.

I think a consistent livery would push the messaging of a reformed and united system but also would think that there'd need to be some sort of differenciation between intercity, regional and commuter.

If only there were some liveries for InterCity trains, railways in the regions, and the network of commuter routes in the SouthEast that the UK government already had the rights to.

 

[OneTrackMinded]

If only there were some liveries for InterCity trains, railways in the regions, and the network of commuter routes in the SouthEast that the UK government already had the rights to.

Once again I really doubt that we're going back to Network SouthEast. This is paint the picture of going backwards. Despite enthusiasts maybe seeing this as a move back to the "good old days", commuters and average people will remember all the woes of travels from those days like the old slam doors and similar and believe it's a step backward rather than forward

 

[Sun Chariot]

Ooooh you tease next thing, we'll be given comfy carriage seats as well.

The first ScotRail livery used a monastral blue stripe, rather than the Saltire blue. I can imagine both schemes as well as the red stripe. Maybe even the orange stripe of the London & SouthEast sector (pre-NSE).

Perhaps variations on the old Intercity liveries. Red stripe for intercity,light blue for Scotland,dark blue provincial etc.

 

[Eskimo]

I imagine certain regions may demand some sort of unique branding for services operating in that area. I can imagine Manchester council fighting the corner for bee network branding on Manchester commuter services.

Merseyrail, WYPTE and NSE style.

To be fair, a lot of ‘operators’ actually use their geographical location or ‘catchment area’ in their brand name anyway.

Cross Country, Scotrail, GWR etc are all not only brand names, but the regions/routes as designated by a ‘uniformed railway’