I have thought about a strategy for namings and I will, therefore, suggest 5 categories from which names may be selected:
1) heritage/ culture
2) tourism
3) places
4) people
5) responsibility & reward ( sponsorship & support for charity works)
Clearly any naming cannot be divisive or controversial but I have tried to reflect the whole prposed Scotrail HST route from Edinburgh/ Glasgow to Aberdeen/Inverness. I have also tried to stay away from blanket city of type namings as they are a bit dull imho but it is hard as some of the areas dont immediately jump out as exciting places. There is a focus on the more touristy locations in Scotland as I think a big part of this campaign would be publicity and the marketing of leisure travel. However limiting the names to the above routes means we cant include some of the more obvious west coast names and go for the full lochs and glens treatment. There are also some living famous scots included purely for PR/marketing purposes and I also include a couple of slots for big companies to buy a name and fund the rest of the programme. I also think it is impossible to avoid suggestions of central belt bias but without having access to the full lochs and glens treatment it is very hard to avoid this. I have tried to treat both cites equally and offer slots to the smaller cities on the routes.
The names should also help to engender in the travelling public a feeling of togetherness and connection with the company and with the Scottish nation/ history generally. I have tried to steer away from obvious nationalist touchstones but it is very hard as this view has coalesced around several historic figures/items that should be included as a reference to past history.
It may also be used to help create links between local communities/groups and the company, hopefully helping to reduce trespass or rail crime and increasing knowledge and ownership of Scotrail and their services. There are also a few corporate sops to keep the big wigs happy!
1 Edinburgh Castle
2 Greyfriars Bobby
3 Forth bridge
4 Holyrood ( got to keep the politicos on side!)
5 Rosslyn Chapel
6 Edinburgh Zoo
7 Old and New Towns of Edinburgh A UNESCO World Heritage Site
8 Burrell Collection
9 Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
10 Glasgow School of Art
11 The Cathedral of Saint Mungo
12 The Riverside Museum
13 Clyde Shipbuilding Our industrial heritage (BAE Systems Maritime sponsorship)
14 HM Queen Elizabeth II Scotlands Queen (Perhaps after independence!)
15 The Scotch Whisky Association
16 Bonnie Prince Charlie
17 The Fair Maid of Perth
18 The Kelpies - Falkirk Wheel
19 Loch Ness
20 St Andrews
21 Oor Woolie - DC Thomson
22 Dundee The City of Discovery
23 Aberdeen The Granite City
24 The National Wallace Monument
25 The Stone of Scone - Scone Palace/Abbey
26 Stirling Castle
27 Mary, Queen of Scots ( I KNOW we already have this name on a 37 but still
.)
28 Flora MacDonald (instead of Culloden as it might not go down well!)
29 Duke OF Edinburgh
30 Katharine Stewart-Murray, Duchess of Atholl (1st female Scottish MP hint Nicola)
31 J.K.Rowling
32 The Edinburgh Seven
33 Sir Sean Connery
34 Robert the Bruce
35 Sir Alex Ferguson
36 Charles Rennie Mackintosh
37 Ian Rankin - Inspector Rebus
38 Alexander Graham Bell
39 William Wallace
40 John Logie Baird
41 Alexander Fleming
42 James Watt
43 Charity (Staff & Passenger vote: national ( large RNLI etc)
44 Charity (Staff & Passenger vote : regional ( air ambulance etc )
45 Charity (Staff & Passenger vote : small local hospice etc)
46 Charity (Scotrail house charity of the year)
47 Saint Andrew Scotlands patron saint
48 VisitScotland (.com)
49 AG Barr / Iron Bru
50 Royal Bank of Scotland ( or AN OTHER who will pay the costs of the scheme)
51 SSE ( or AN OTHER who will pay the costs of the scheme)
52 Standard Life ( or AN OTHER who will pay the costs of the scheme)
53 Bank of Scotland ( or AN OTHER who will pay the costs of the scheme)
54 Scotrail Scotlands Railway
Fire away
