New Chiltern Railways Branding

[superalbs]

Looks like Chiltern Railways are changing their logo, this was just set as their Facebook profile picture a few hours ago:

https://www.facebook.com/chilternrailway/photos/a.489089506347.295538.69249496347/10155493649951348

It seems to incorporate the new Arriva logo too.

Can't say I'm a fan, the 'C' looks very out of place, not to mention the tacky 'by arriva' bit added on, looking out of place.

 

[Lrd]

I like it, it looks clean and modern

 

[Bletchleyite]

I don't like the "swish C". Have that in the dark blue of "hiltern" and I would like it, though. The existing logo and livery is looking a bit dated - is it now the longest-running livery?

 

[Bwlch y Groes]

I like it. The colours are very Regional Railways. All the Arriva TOCs will have "by Arriva" in their logos soon

 

[Chris M]

We had a thread recently about longest running logos (just prior to the demise of South West Trains iirc).
As for this logo, I'm not a fan. Firstly it's bland. Secondly the C doesn't fit with the rest of the text meaning that it looks like some sort of graphic device accompanying "hiltern railways" (what's wrong with capital letters by the way?). Thirdly the "by arriva" looks like an afterthought. If it's important that you get the group name in there then call it "Arriva Chiltern", "Chiltern Arriva", "Arriva Railways Chiltern", or something like that.

 

[D5645]

Looks nice and contemporary.

Probably needed a refresh.

 

[Chris M]

I like it. The colours are very Regional Railways.

I don't understand the attraction of Regional Railways. To me the association is bland, underfunded, run-down services.

 

[Bwlch y Groes]

I don't understand the attraction of Regional Railways. To me the association is bland, underfunded, run-down services.

Each to their own - I associate it with improving neglected services with more modern trains and a fresh corporate image. RR set the railways up for that boom in traffic in the 90s

 

[Chris M]

My memories presumably don't go back as far as yours. I don't recall any previous corporate image, and the trains weren't new at the end of RR, which is when the only memories I have of it are from - prior to the early 1990s my only experiences of rail travel in the UK were of very occasional travel on HSTs on the East Coast main line and the Metro in suburban Newcastle.

 

[jon0844]

Secondly the C doesn't fit with the rest of the text meaning that it looks like some sort of graphic device accompanying "hiltern railways"

Yes it does look like that to me too. Always risky when mixing colours/styles on a word. If the C was darker throughout or not offset it could work better.

I'm sure they'll have done loads of combinations/layouts and argued about this internally for ages! I remember my days in print publishing arguing for ages about page layouts, cover designs and choosing photos.

 

[CC 72100]

And there was me thinking I'd seen that colour combination and font before...

 

[London Trains]

And there was me thinking I'd seen that colour combination and font before...

But that looks a lot better.

 

[Doctor Fegg]

The swoosh in the C is rather reminiscent of the Stagecoach logo, too!

(I'm not a great fan of the lower-case 'r' in 'railways' - it's slightly infantilising. But as jon0844 says, this will have been debated internally and presumably focus-grouped to death...)

 

[Marklund]

Definitely needs a capital R.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I don't understand the attraction of Regional Railways. To me the association is bland, underfunded, run-down services.

It did to some extent, though the branding was fairly groundbreaking in railway terms in carrying familiar branding elements (like the = device) through everything, and the idea of families of liveries i.e. the PTE variations and NorthWest Express.

 

[Bletchleyite]

But that looks a lot better.

Because the "device" is separate? The C could be larger and in front of it all, though that might look a bit like the utterly dire CCCccccentral Trains and its "Flying Snotsman" livery, which is not something any of us want reminding of.

Talking of the Arriva logo, though, why isn't it being used on buses? At present they seem to be repainting into new colours then sticking the old logo on.

 

[XCTurbostar]

This is not really required. The franchise has managed to go entirely without a rebrand and now it’s only a few years away of being re-franchised..

 

[cjmillsnun]

I don't understand the attraction of Regional Railways. To me the association is bland, underfunded, run-down services.

They weren't that bad at all. Regional Railways was where some serious money was being spent by BR. The 158 was still fairly new at privatisation. Others in the fleet weren't much older. If you thought RR was run down, you should've experienced what came before.

 

[Parallel]

I quite like it. I think it looks sharp, clear and modern.

 

[class387]

Looks like Chiltern Railways are changing their logo, this was just set as their Facebook profile picture a few hours ago:

https://www.facebook.com/chilternrailway/photos/a.489089506347.295538.69249496347/10155493649951348

It seems to incorporate the new Arriva logo too.

Can't say I'm a fan, the 'C' looks very out of place, not to mention the tacky 'by arriva' bit added on, looking out of place.

I do like this, looks modern, clear and well made. Definitely one of the better recent brands - I don't think we have a truly good brand since GWR (TPE comes close) but this could be it.

 

[birchesgreen]

Average effort, i don't like the C. Better than SWR i guess.

 

[387star]

The main line fleet were recently repainted into a new livery
Only the172/165 have original livery

 

[centraltrains]

My Opinions:
Way too childish because the font weight is too high.
Doesn't fit the colour scheme of recently painted silver mainline trains.
Looks too much like the northern logo.
Why change the colour scheme?

My Questions:
Will "Mainline" sub-brand be getting a new logo?
Will a new livery be made with this logo? I don't see how it could fit with the existing scheme, the red lines just match to perfectly on the old one.

 

[satisnek]

"By Arriva" ??!

They've gone all Sainsbury's.

 

[pdeaves]

the trains weren't new at the end of RR

Just in case anyone is interested or needs reminding, most of what is now Chiltern was previously Network SouthEast, not RR (though there's nothing stopping them from using a RR-inspired look, of course).

 

[Clip]

We had a thread recently about longest running logos (just prior to the demise of South West Trains iirc).
As for this logo, I'm not a fan. Firstly it's bland. Secondly the C doesn't fit with the rest of the text meaning that it looks like some sort of graphic device accompanying "hiltern railways" (what's wrong with capital letters by the way?). Thirdly the "by arriva" looks like an afterthought. If it's important that you get the group name in there then call it "Arriva Chiltern", "Chiltern Arriva", "Arriva Railways Chiltern", or something like that.

Or Always Arriva Chiltern' or some other play on qords in relation to virgins arive aqesome.

Terrible logo though

 

[HarleyDavidson]

Looks cheap, tacky and not very good. In fact quite naff.

 

[Mugby]

Looks cheap, tacky and not very good. In fact quite naff.

I agree. We now know that it's been plagiarized from Birmingham Airport and some 'image consultants' have probably been paid a million quid for doing it!

 

[E_Reeves]

I quite like it, modern, sharp and clear, however the 'by arriva' bit just ruins it. As for the Arriva logo, it just looks like a dying eagle.

 

[Chris M]

They weren't that bad at all. Regional Railways was where some serious money was being spent by BR. The 158 was still fairly new at privatisation. Others in the fleet weren't much older. If you thought RR was run down, you should've experienced what came before.

The combination of age and the various places I've lived mean that my first regular experience of railways (other than the Tyne and Wear Metro and occasional trips on ECML HSTs) coincided with the very end of Regional Railways and the beginning of privatisation. And the few RR journeys I had when old enough to remember them were on 143s and 150s between Weston-super-Mare and Bristol. The RR-liveried units (even with a Wales and West logo sticker) were typically dirty and run-down.