I’ve been following the developments of the new franchise for a while now on this forum. Never had anything to contribute so have happily been reading along. This and the “Bi-Lingual” thread is not the most enjoyable read, I do find some of the comments regarding the Welsh language distasteful and mean spirited. I have my opinions on its use but the fact of the matter is in Wales it’s part of daily life to see things in two languages and in for one enjoy it even if my knowledge of the language is limited. I’ve never missed a train, got lost in the station or anywhere else because of it regardless of which one is “first”. Across the border fair enough, shouldn’t be on everything, branding aside, but when GWR don’t have the courtesy to programme bilingual announcements (don’t know if it’s techinaly possible but not for me to know) past the Severn Tunnel on the IETs that service the majority of intercity travel in South Wales then it’s swings and roundabouts.
Moving onto the branding of this franchise, this is pure speculation on my part but I think the peices fit together.
On the launch documents, statements etc we saw rolling stock mock ups branded as Wales & Borders on the CAF & 230s and Metro on the Stadlers. We saw mentions of WCB and CVL, Wales and Cross Border, South Wales Metro. All very separate identities. We have that stipulation from the DfT (who from reading this forum seem less than botherd with the Borders element anyway) on branding. We also have the Cymru a’r Gororau / Wales & Boarders trade mark at the IPO mentioned above.
Could it be that like TFL Rail, this is a temporary branding solution, covering all the services until the “brand new” trains and improvements come online. Just like TFL they didn’t want to brand the individual segments as Crossrail/Elizabeth line until the promised full service is launched. From a PR perspective it helps keep the old basic service separate from the new desirable one. So we see TfW on everything until the Metro launches and we have a differentiation. Metro on one hand with its own destinctive brand and Wales & Borders coverings the traditional network.
It makes sense from a practical perspective too, one set of stickers to plaster all over stations in a short space of time instead of two, get the TfW name out there so people can see change is coming and yes alows the Welsh Government a bit of bragging rights about what they’ve achieved.
That’s just my thinking on this one, could be completely wrong ... back to reading and hopeing the conversation gets back to things other than a name.
Moving onto the branding of this franchise, this is pure speculation on my part but I think the peices fit together.
On the launch documents, statements etc we saw rolling stock mock ups branded as Wales & Borders on the CAF & 230s and Metro on the Stadlers. We saw mentions of WCB and CVL, Wales and Cross Border, South Wales Metro. All very separate identities. We have that stipulation from the DfT (who from reading this forum seem less than botherd with the Borders element anyway) on branding. We also have the Cymru a’r Gororau / Wales & Boarders trade mark at the IPO mentioned above.
Could it be that like TFL Rail, this is a temporary branding solution, covering all the services until the “brand new” trains and improvements come online. Just like TFL they didn’t want to brand the individual segments as Crossrail/Elizabeth line until the promised full service is launched. From a PR perspective it helps keep the old basic service separate from the new desirable one. So we see TfW on everything until the Metro launches and we have a differentiation. Metro on one hand with its own destinctive brand and Wales & Borders coverings the traditional network.
It makes sense from a practical perspective too, one set of stickers to plaster all over stations in a short space of time instead of two, get the TfW name out there so people can see change is coming and yes alows the Welsh Government a bit of bragging rights about what they’ve achieved.
That’s just my thinking on this one, could be completely wrong ... back to reading and hopeing the conversation gets back to things other than a name.