Great British Railways: Thoughts, predictions, speculation

[LowLevel]

Like this?

View attachment 96422

[Image: lion on wheels]

I was thinking more of this classic symbol of power and terror, the Lion from the Teletubbies.

 

[Cardiff123]

According to The Guardian, the name for this new organisation will be 'Great British Railways'. Is there any need for the 'Great' bit? No doubt the Union Jack flag will be plastered all over the new livery as well.

UK railways brace for shake-up and cuts as long-overdue review arrives

Biggest change since 90s privatisation looks to halt franchise failures, reform fares and, for the Treasury, slash costs

www.theguardian.com

I'm hoping that this will just be the name over the overall body responsible for it all, and that the region specific, but operator neutral names that have been given to franchises in the last few years will stay. So every English region will have a region specific name like now - GWR, EMR, WMR, West Coast, East Coast etc. And of course TfW in Wales and ScotRail in Scotland. But knowing this government i'm not holding my breath.

 

[The Planner]

Just a few of questions on the granularity of responsibilty:
Who will be responsible for Transport and Works Acts preparation?
Who will have the grip on Grip ?
Inherent in the above - who will have the responsibility for delivering and paying for the national decarbonisation strategy?
Does this mean the end of TfN - but the survival of TfW?
The term "slash costs" is much bandied - who,what,where,when,how?????

Considering it hasn't even been announced officially yet, or will be in much detail, those questions won't be answered fully any time soon. GRIP is gone/going anyway and already has a replacement.

 

[Bletchleyite]

According to The Guardian, the name for this new organisation will be 'Great British Railways'. Is there any need for the 'Great' bit? No doubt the Union Jack flag will be plastered all over the new livery as well.

What is wrong with that?

I know a very tasteful livery in those colours which is very popular with people on here

You could showcase it on a 442 too (look, I got them into the thread! )

 

[Journeyman]

What is wrong with that?

I know a very tasteful livery in those colours which is very popular with people on here

You could showcase it on a 442 too (look, I got them into the thread! )

Hahaha! There will be 442s for all on Great British Railways!

 

[DerekC]

I can't believe the naivety of the name. The first time there is a major disruption or shutdown, the headlines write themselves. Either that's a try-on - to see how much the press will believe, or the current batch of politicians really do think they can run a railway better than anyone else ever has!

 

[Bletchleyite]

I can't believe the naivety of the name. The first time there is a major disruption or shutdown, the headlines write themselves. Either that's a try-on - to see how much the press will believe, or the current batch of politicians really do think they can run a railway better than anyone else ever has!

As was said above, is there any railway name that can't be corrupted? Given that you can do rail->fail there probably isn't.

 

[Wolfie]

I can't believe the naivety of the name. The first time there is a major disruption or shutdown, the headlines write themselves. Either that's a try-on - to see how much the press will believe, or the current batch of politicians really do think they can run a railway better than anyone else ever has!

Mussolini managed it..... Just sayin'....

 

[gimmea50anyday]

And earlier than that, the ‘Late and Never Early Railway’, WC and Pee etc...

or my favourite, Going Nowhere Except Retford!

 

[yorksrob]

Yes, there was a certain lack of bombast with the name BR. It was what it was.

 

[Recessio]

or my favourite, Going Nowhere Except Retford!

LMS, "Hell of a mess!"

I think they should just name go with BR rather than GBR. Makes me think of the Great British Bakeoff...

 

[davetheguard]

I can't believe the naivety of the name. The first time there is a major disruption or shutdown, the headlines write themselves.

That's if Great British Railways turns out to be true. But you're right: every time there's a bus replacement; every time there's a delay - they'll be the snarls from the oh-so-articulate Great British Public.

 

[zwk500]

As was said above, is there any railway name that can't be corrupted? Given that you can do rail->fail there probably isn't.

Maybe we should follow the continent and use Ironroad instead of Railways? SNCGB maybe? Although I don't think the abbreviation for Ferrovie UK would be a sensible choice...

 

[Purple Orange]

I don’t get the argument about the name in the context of being mocked in the media. Do people think the name will increase the level of ‘namecalling’? I don’t think so. It’s always been there and always will be, regardless of the name.

 

[coppercapped]

LMS, "Hell of a mess!"

I think they should just name go with BR rather than GBR. Makes me think of the Great British Bakeoff...

Also 'Lose 'em, Mix 'em and Smash 'em'.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Mussolini managed it..... Just sayin'....

Trenitalia, on the other hand...

 

[Turtle]

Maybe we should follow the continent and use Ironroad instead of Railways? SNCGB maybe? Although I don't think the abbreviation for Ferrovie UK would be a sensible choice...

Brilliant!

 

[Sad Sprinter]

According to The Guardian, the name for this new organisation will be 'Great British Railways'. Is there any need for the 'Great' bit? No doubt the Union Jack flag will be plastered all over the new livery as well.

UK railways brace for shake-up and cuts as long-overdue review arrives

Biggest change since 90s privatisation looks to halt franchise failures, reform fares and, for the Treasury, slash costs

www.theguardian.com

I'm hoping that this will just be the name over the overall body responsible for it all, and that the region specific, but operator neutral names that have been given to franchises in the last few years will stay. So every English region will have a region specific name like now - GWR, EMR, WMR, West Coast, East Coast etc. And of course TfW in Wales and ScotRail in Scotland. But knowing this government i'm not holding my breath.

Well tbf, 'Great British' makes sense, as it won't include Northern Ireland's Translink. Union Jack livery isn't a bad thing. After all, it is the nation's flag and were the base colours of the NSE livery and the London Underground livery.

Personally, I would just prefer British Rail.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Maybe we should follow the continent and use Ironroad instead of Railways? SNCGB maybe? Although I don't think the abbreviation for Ferrovie UK would be a sensible choice...

Anything starting F seems rude. FGW did somehow.

No worse than the other name for the Centovalli line

And in the unlikely event of a Swiss delay, there is always the Italian language abbreviation for that

 

[Sad Sprinter]

If you've been following Network Rail's chairman Sir Peter Hendy on Twitter over the past year, you'll be aware this is a throwback to BR in more ways than one... in terms of design he has even personally pushed for

• a return of the BR "double arrows" symbol
• black-on-white signage
• and commissioned a new version of the "Rail Alphabet" typeface

This is even stated in the latest Network Rail design guidelines, which state that the BR symbol should replace the Network Rail symbol for public use.

Source: https://files.whatdotheyknow.com/request/request_for_updated_wayfinding_m/NR_GN_CIV_300_01.pdf

Happy days!

 

[peters]

According to The Guardian, the name for this new organisation will be 'Great British Railways'. Is there any need for the 'Great' bit? No doubt the Union Jack flag will be plastered all over the new livery as well.

Why does that make me think of a CEO's office with Michael Portillo behind the desk with a bookcase of Bradshaw's guides behind him?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Happy days!

Boringly drab to me. It needs a modern house style and livery. There is only one thing for it - get Best Impressions in and create desire for rail. Their work on London Midland was unrivalled.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

Boringly drab to me. It needs a modern house style and livery. There is only one thing for it - get Best Impressions in and create desire for rail. Their work on London Midland was unrivalled.

It's no different to many of the Continental rail styles? It reminds be somewhat of the German railways design.

 

[Bletchleyite]

It's no different to many of the Continental rail styles? It reminds be somewhat of the German railways design.

DB uses a modern style and a blue background on signage, which Network Rail nicked and made the major stations look great as a result.

I think DB's branding package is excellent, to be honest. Even down to the cutesy little mole mascot for engineering work. Makes something that is bad seem a bit less so.

It is maybe more like SBB, but I find that dated and basic in branding terms even though I do like Takt and Stadler kit!

 

[birchesgreen]

That's OK until you have 28 National Rails across Europe.
Or we have 3 National Rails in GB.
I think it needs a better descriptor.

Ok call it British National Rail, BNR. Won't ever be mistaken for anything else less savoury.

Yeah, what are the chances of SNCF, DB, Trenitalia or NS getting involved in running British trains.

Oh wait.

Well I as under the impression with the new set-up the companies operating the franchises would become less visible anyway?

 

[Bald Rick]

Finding it ironically amusing that the thread on the biggest change to the rail industry in this country for 30 years has degenerated into a discussion about branding and nomenclature.

 

[ainsworth74]

Finding it ironically amusing that the thread on the biggest change to the rail industry in this country for 30 years has degenerated into a discussion about branding and nomenclature.

It's why I love this Forum always dealing with the important matters!

But, in an attempt at a defence, to be fair there isn't that much to go on until the white paper itself appears apart from the broad strokes from the media stories which, to a great extent, had been trailed a while in advance (I'm not sure I've read anything 'new' so far!).

 

[birchesgreen]

Finding it ironically amusing that the thread on the biggest change to the rail industry in this country for 30 years has degenerated into a discussion about branding and nomenclature.

Feel free to give us your in-depth analysis of the other more important issues then!

 

[YorksLad12]

LMS, "Hell of a mess!"

I think they should just name go with BR rather than GBR. Makes me think of the Great British Bakeoff...

Great British Rake-off (if TPE's class 68 and Mk5a coaches part company en route).

 

[AlterEgo]

Finding it ironically amusing that the thread on the biggest change to the rail industry in this country for 30 years has degenerated into a discussion about branding and nomenclature.

Ironically amusing, or just predictable?