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Few questions

Why didn't Silverlink refurbish 321s when FGE did given they were the same age? Was this to do with franchise specification or stock ownership?

Why exactly is C2C called C2C because why would anyone come up with a name which isn't specific? (wiki)

Why did WAGN change the livery on its trains wouldn't it have made sense to stick with the PRISM livery and save money.

Leading on from the last question when class 317/6 were refurbished they recieved purple seats yet retained the old WAGN livery. Why then was this?

Why was Silverlink called Silverlink when according to wiki the steam locomotive referenced (?) ran on a competitors route?

Why Silverlink County? I read somewhere about county towns but not aware of many on that route?

Thanks
 
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W-on-Sea

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Few questions

Why exactly is C2C called C2C because why would anyone come up with a name which isn't specific? (wiki)

...

Why Silverlink County? I read somewhere about county towns but not aware of many on that route?

Thanks

I think the purpose of the c2c rebranding was, above all, to distance the line from the atrocious reputation that it had had for many years. (New trains and new signalling obviously helped too). When the branding was introduced, it was kind of garish - excess use of bright pink, trendy presentation, definite sense that they were aiming at the young - all of which has since (thankfully) been eradicated. And indeed, they did make a point of saying that it didn't stand for anything in particular (not even "city 2 coast"); I recall one press release early on saying it could perhaps stand for "care 2 customers" as much as anything else....

As for specific geographic options, the nature of the franchise (one line in a limited geographic area) meant the options were (and are) a bit unlimited - presumably the desire to avoid any reference to "London", "Tilbury" or "Southend" was part of the rebranding idea. Not sure the "Essex Thameside" suggestion will quite catch on - as it's not really a label that is used to describe the area locally. I suppose "Estuary Rail" might work, but, well...


Silverlink County: Northampton was surely the only county town as such on that network? I suppose the idea was to imply a refererence to the places between London and Birmingham. Not sure it worked well, but to me the name "Silverlink" always implied everything to do with being placed second: as well as second-class, second-rate. Many journeys on their network did litttle to change this impression
 

Schnellzug

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Did FGE refurbish the 321s?

c2c has also sounded to me like one of those Budget airlines, like Zoom! or Wizz! or bmibaby.

Why was Silverlink called Silverlink?
That's a very good question. Surely it should have been Coronation. Or 4MT, since they ran the suburban services. But perhaps that wasn't glamorous enough.
I suppose Silverlink County was to differentiate it from the North london line and the Esuton_Watford DC line.
 

LE Greys

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It's nothing new. The London and York railway rebranded itself the Great Northern Railway before it was even built, while the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway could have gone with, London, Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway (LMSLR) or Manchester, Sheffield, Lincolnshire and London Railway (MSLLR), but decided on Great Central Railway because it sounded better. The Great North of Scotland Railway was a bit grandiose for a local network around Buchan and out to Elgin. It's all about what sounds best.

Still, what was wrong with London, Tilbury and Southend. It had been called that for over a century (I still use it).
 

317666

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Leading on from the last question when class 317/6 were refurbished they recieved purple seats yet retained the old WAGN livery. Why then was this?

As far as I'm aware the 317/6s (then classed as 317/2s) were in Network SouthEast livery, and painted in WAGN cream livery after being refurbished.
 

387star

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As far as I'm aware the 317/6s (then classed as 317/2s) were in Network SouthEast livery, and painted in WAGN cream livery after being refurbished.

Perhaps when they first recieved the chapman seats they had a different upholstery to the purple one possibly later applied?
 

313103

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Silverlink was originally going to be called 'Silverwing' however as Silverwing Publishers held the copyright of the name, that name was dropped and a design company came in with the name 'Silverlink' and that livery with the spit logo.

With regard the name 'Silverlink County', i think it was given because it served different counties. It was done so that the two different Silverlink companies could easily be split (like they were) upon retender.
 

Zoe

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With regard the name 'Silverlink County', i think it was given because it served different counties. It was done so that the two different Silverlink companies could easily be split (like they were) upon retender.
There was only ever one company holding the franchise and that was Silverlink Trains Limited. County and Metro were just branding.
 

Eagle

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There was only ever one company holding the franchise and that was Silverlink Trains Limited. County and Metro were just branding.

Indeed; I have a London Connections map from about mid-2003, and there is no distinction made between the two (the WCML and Watford DC aren't even drawn separately until Bushey).
 

Electrostar

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Regarding c2c I think you've got to remember just how poor the LTS "misery line" reputation was at that point. Old rolling stock, delays etc and the post-privatisation green stripe over the NSE red did little to promote a forward-looking company. You've also got to put it in perspective of the time: It was around the time when companies everywhere were still caught up in the dot.com pre-9/11 boom. The country had gone rebranding mad! Companies were rebranding left, right and centre from PWC becoming Monday to Royal Mail becoming Consignia. Cowie had become Arriva and Stagecoach had or were introducing the swirls. I think c2c wanted to offer something new and a complete break from the past. They heralded their colours, their bright seats (in later units), sliding doors at old station entrances and even way-finding icons which were later used by Stansted Express and WAGN I believe. (Arrows and icons were another big thing back then!) In their favour, reliability shot up so I guess c2c worked even if no one ever quite got it. The name also worked a lot better than "one" many years later on the Liverpool St side.

I can't see a Thameside brand ever working unless it was as a sub-title to a big corporate, e.g. First Thameside or Abelio Thameside.

As for my own memories - I loved the original WAGN livery (but hated the triangular logo) and detested the all-over purple of latter days. Likewise Silverlink did nothing for me - horrid livery, awful route maps on black backgrounds and a terrible service on the NLL.
 

387star

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Silverlink was originally going to be called 'Silverwing' however as Silverwing Publishers held the copyright of the name, that name was dropped and a design company came in with the name 'Silverlink' and that livery with the spit logo.

With regard the name 'Silverlink County', i think it was given because it served different counties. It was done so that the two different Silverlink companies could easily be split (like they were) upon retender.

Learn something new every day. Cheers!
 

313103

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There was only ever one company holding the franchise and that was Silverlink Trains Limited. County and Metro were just branding.

Whilst that is very true, to all intents and purposes they operated individually. On going to many meetings with management they didnt regard themselves as a Manager of Silverlink Train Services Limited, rather they were eg: ops director of Silverlink County or Retail Services Director Silverlink Metro. They operated on different budgets as well.

That is what you got from a company that existed only in name and nothing else, no assets, no staff just a name that company yes youve got it 'LONDON LINES'. Perhaps it was all part of National Express big plan to take over the railways, that went alll so horribly wrong.

Working for Silverlink under NEG ownership was probably the lowest point in my railway career.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Learn something new every day. Cheers!

No Probs, That info came from the early days when we were known as North London Railways, that info came from no other then the then MD Charles Belcher. He mentioned it at a meeting when we were discusing new branding.
 

Silverlinky

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Working for Silverlink under NEG ownership was probably the lowest point in my railway career.

Yet we were crying out for Silverlink during the industrial relations dispute which affected LM 18 months ago!! lol!

Yes, I remember the Silverwing thing, some people have strange ideas!! Aslo remember 321428 being given an all-white livery and emblazoned with the words "Make The Link" prior to the new name and livery being announced!

As for refurbishment of the 321's......Silverlink actually refurbished them early on in their careers, I can remember the lack of carpets, lack of tables in first etc......They did receive these improvements in the late 90's whilst the FGE ones were still running around unrefreshed.
 

313103

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I did during my time at Silverlink applied for work on First Great Western, i was gutted getting turned down 3 times. However i am now glad i didn't as the chief protagonist at Silverlink (and the one who i am still waiting a response from over other silverlink matters) is now the MD at First Great Western.
 
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