Why was Silverlink (train operating company) called Silverlink?

[PTR 444]

As most people on here will know, Silverlink was the TOC which operated local trains on the south WCML and North London Line between 1997 and 2007. Of all the TOCs that have ever existed, it is unusual in that its name does not relate to a geographical area, not even referencing anywhere along the route. Similar nods go to c2c and Avanti, although the former arguably stands for “city to coast”, and the latter does have West Coast in its name.

Doing some research, I have found that are places called Silverlink in the UK, but none of those are in North London or near the south WCML, so what prompted the name Silverlink to be used for the original WCML local TOC in the first place?

 

[Bletchleyite]

As far as I'm aware it's just a made up name like say "Avanti".

 

[pdeaves]

I think the 'link' part makes sense for a transport provider. It's interesting that National Express chose silver rather than gold or platinum (for example).

 

[StephenHunter]

Avanti isn't made up - it's Italian for "Forward" used in the sense of "advance" or "let's go!". Trenitalia partly operates Avanti West Coast.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

A "marketing" concept - "Silverwing" was one idea .....


Not many places called "Northern Spirit" either......

 

[PTR 444]

I think the 'link' part makes sense for a transport provider. It's interesting that National Express chose silver rather than gold or platinum (for example).

I would guess that the ‘silver’ part implies that it is the second best quality service along the route (after Virgin Trains which most would see as being ‘gold’)

Not many places called "Northern Spirit" either......

Except that it does have a region in its name

 

[JB_B]

I thought it was after the famous locomotive : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LNER_Class_A4_2509_Silver_Link

 

[306024]

I thought it was after the famous locomotive : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LNER_Class_A4_2509_Silver_Link

Maybe not. A mate working for them at the time tells a story that the office staff were all called together by one of the directors to be told of the exciting new brand, with a unique new name that defined the route and was the result of considerable thought.

One of the assembled crowd then piped up “Oh you mean after the steam locomotive”. Apparently the directors face was a picture.

 

[JB_B]

Maybe not. A mate working for them at the time tells a story that the office staff were all called together by one of the directors to be told of the exciting new brand, with a unique new name that defined the route and was the result of considerable thought.

One of the assembled crowd then piped up “Oh you mean after the steam locomotive”. Apparently the directors face was a picture.

- that sounds all too plausible.







Quote Reply

Report

 

[Bishopstone]

I liked to imagine it was the random name of the off-the-shelf BidCo they formed (‘Silverlink Ventures (1996) Ltd’, or somesuch), and then - when they won the business - they just kept the name due to a paucity of imagination, or lack of belief in the efficacy of sharp-suited branding agencies.

 

[306024]

- that sounds all too plausible.

To digress slightly I was in a similar crowd once at National Express East Anglia. All week there had been a big build up of the exciting new brand that would be taking the company forward with new values, a bold mission statement, renewed commitment and endless enthusiasm.

And then……. ‘One’.

Tumbleweed doesn’t begin to explain the atmosphere

 

[whoosh]

"Commitment to Customers" was what I saw some blustering fluff proclaim c2c stood for.

 

[Bletchleyite]

"Commitment to Customers" was what I saw some blustering fluff proclaim c2c stood for.

I'm once again reminded of a friend who worked as a cashier for Midland Bank somewhere vaguely in the, er, Midlands, just as it was renamed to HSBC. She was advised that if asked what it stood for she should say "it stands for quality". I think it's a good job she was behind the safety of a thick sheet of glass, and I hate to think just how many times the phrase "smart a**e" must have featured.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned how the primary Silverlink Metro route used to serve Silvertown. I wouldn't doubt that that had some influence?

 

[randyrippley]

When was the bit of the North London Line which went to Silvertown closed?
I thought the name was due to linking Silvertown with the rest of London

 

[John Webb]

When was the bit of the North London Line which went to Silvertown closed?
I thought the name was due to linking Silvertown with the rest of London

The Silvertown station on the line from North Woolwich to Stratford and beyond closed in 2006. The site of the station now has 'Crossrail' running through it before the new line dives into a tunnel under the Thames to reach Woolwich. Good deal of detail at http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/s/silvertown/index.shtml

 

[hexagon789]

I don't suppose the source of A4 Silver Link's name could be behind it at all? Or is that too far-fetched?

From the poem The Lay of the Last Ministrel by Sir Walter Scott:

"...The silver link, the silken tie,
Which heart to heart, and mind to mind,
In body and in soul can bind."

 

[telstarbox]

Silvertown was my understanding although it was hardly the hub of their network.

 

[2192]

Wasn't the north London DC line called Harlequin at some stage in its history? -- Name chosen in a competition by those who lived near it?

 

[The exile]

Wasn't the north London DC line called Harlequin at some stage in its history? -- Name chosen in a competition by those who lived near it?

That had something to do with HARLEsden, QUeen’s Park and somewhere else, didn’t it? (Can’t think where the IN came from)

 

[Doctor Fegg]

All with a garish purple, green, and decidedly not silver livery. That was a bit of a thing at the time - National Boat Shows (i.e. London and Southampton) rebranded themselves “Big Blue” with a logo that was black, red, yellow and green. When asked about the lack of blue, the designer replied that it was an “intentional visual conundrum”…

 

[chris_in_salop]

I always assumed it was named after the historic locomotive.

Indeed in Tamworth there is a housing estate with a Silver Link Road, close to roads called Ivatt, Gresley, Deltic, Collett, Stephenson Close, Pullman Close and Engine Lane, plus a few others.

 

[OuterDistant]

To me, "Silverlink" always brought to mind a railway service for OAPs.

 

[Bletchleyite]

That had something to do with HARLEsden, QUeen’s Park and somewhere else, didn’t it? (Can’t think where the IN came from)

Also the Harlequin Centre, the major shopping centre in Watford, which has sadly lost that name now. I'm not sure if that predated the railway name or vice versa.

the "in" isn't something else, it's "quin" as a corruption of "queen" if you say it quite fast

I don't know if there's a general "harlequin" connection to Watford (you could imagine it being a football team nickname, but they're the Hornets) or if it was just a name made up by the company that built it.

 

[Taunton]

I liked to imagine it was the random name of the off-the-shelf BidCo they formed (‘Silverlink Ventures (1996) Ltd’, or somesuch)

That would be pretty certainly what its origin was. A company name must not be "misleading". So it either has to describe quite reasonably what you do, or it has to be completely meaningless, so people are not misled.

Such "off the shelf" names are commonly pre-registered by accounting firms, they are often formed of two other unconnected words, as here, Silver and Link, run together. They often seen to register 26 at a time, starting from A through Z, and when you ask them for a random company name they say "Here, choose one of these", and have the papers ready to transfer it from them to you. Often if a company then comes to prominence the name gets changed to something meaningful, but not always. Look around and you can spot them. It saves all the timewasting hoo-hah of choosing a more meaningful name, applying for it, and a week later hearing back it's rejected because it's too similar to another, describes something other than what you are going to do, etc.

There was a major bus company a while back called Badgerline, which had the same origins.

 

[Bletchleyite]

There was a major bus company a while back called Badgerline, which had the same origins.

Interesting - was it really? I always thought it had a connection with the local wildlife.

Badgerline of course was one of the original constituents of FirstGroup, and coming full circle the brand name is used (by First) once again in its original area.

 

[Taunton]

Interesting - was it really? I always thought it had a connection with the local wildlife.

That was a reverse idea, they did their logo of a badger etc after getting the name. Again, not unknown.

 

[bramling]

"Commitment to Customers" was what I saw some blustering fluff proclaim c2c stood for.

From what I recall, c2c was supposed to have no specific meaning. The concept was it could mean whatever anyone wanted it to mean. Coast to Capital was another, though it didn’t take long for someone to suggest “Chav into Chavette”.

 

[ashkeba]

Silvertown was my understanding although it was hardly the hub of their network.

But it was the eastern end of it. If you ignore the nonsense of "North Woolwich" which is across the river from the northern bit of Woolwich.

 

[bramling]

But it was the eastern end of it. If you ignore the nonsense of "North Woolwich" which is across the river from the northern bit of Woolwich.

That seems to be fairly common round there. The forerunner to the DLR’s Island Gardens station was “North Greenwich & Cubitt Town”. Ironically not in Greenwich, and nowhere near today’s “North Greenwich” either.