Great British Railways: Station identity and livery unveiling (09/12/25)

[skyhigh]

Message to staff today from Heidi Alexander:

‌In the meantime, I know there is also a lot of interest in what the railways will look like in the future. This includes your trains, stations, depots and more.

‌Tomorrow we will unveil the new visual identity for GBR at several major stations across the network and also unveil our vision for the GBR train livery. So please do look out for that. While we can’t share this with you yet, put see below for an early sneak peak.

A full pack will be shared with you tomorrow and I hope you will share our excitement about the new look for the railways.

‌The branding combines Britain’s proud rail heritage with a fresh, modern identity inspired by the Union flag. It brings together past and future and is more than just a logo. It is a symbol of the railway we want to build with you: a simple, reliable public service which reflects the strong sense of pride I know you, as the people who keep our country moving, have in our railways.

‌Some elements of the visual identity will be able to roll out faster than others, and there are some things we really want to take some extra time to get right – such as making sure we work closely with trades unions and staff on things like new uniform designs.

 

[Jan Mayen]

I suppose it's too much to hope for the simple reinstatemnent of the double arrow logo and 'British Rail'

 

[sad1e]

All I can hope is that it isn't as horrendous as their Logo design.

I wonder if they'll go for a different livery for different parts of the country like BR did during sectorisation , or just go for one slap it on anything livery like BR Blue was.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

I suppose it's too much to hope for the simple reinstatemnent of the double arrow logo and 'British Rail'

I'd prefer a new version of the lion and wheel myself.
Are there any other "national" railways that incorporate the national flag in their logo?
SNCF, DB, and Renfe certainly don't.
Trenitalia has a stylised "FS" in the national colours in the corner.
SBB's logo is in the national colours and hints at the shape of the country/network.

 

[Lockwood]

Would a mostly dark blue livery with a horizontal red and white stripe, perhaps with diagonal stripes at the end be in keeping with the union flag motif, without actively being a flag waving effort?

 

[alistairlees]

There should be market- and product-based identities / sub-brands (such as InterCity, Regional, Local, SouthEast) that are distinctive and around which marketing, pricing, fares and ticketing, product offering and so on can be woven. All under a unifying GBR identity. And it should be based on greens / whites (to reinforce environmental credentials, and break away from the past, such as the double arrow being red). BR as was can't be recreated - too much has moved on. I'll eat my hat if anything like this happens though.

 

[Revilo]

I'd prefer a new version of the lion and wheel myself.
Are there any other "national" railways that incorporate the national flag in their logo?
SNCF, DB, and Renfe certainly don't.
Trenitalia has a stylised "FS" in the national colours in the corner.
SBB's logo is in the national colours and hints at the shape of the country/network.

Amtrak includes the stripes of the US flag.

 

[Eliottjames]

Sneak peek of the new livery here

https://x.com/heidi_labour/status/1998123251415806301?s=46

 

[Bantamzen]

Sneak peek of the new livery here

https://x.com/heidi_labour/status/1998123251415806301?s=46

Hmm, that could look really nice. And it even has a yellow front for the purists....

 

[Jan Mayen]

Does anyone know which stations will host the unveiling?

 

[Steddenm]

Hmm, that could look really nice. And it even has a yellow front for the purists....

Looks very APT InterCity to me.

 

[williamn]

I’m quite surprised it’s so soon to be honest, I’d have thought they’d have waited for GBR to actually exist!

 

[Straus]

Probably got fed up of me saying it will never happen

 

[ENC Rail]

I can't wait to see this properly tomorrow! I'm guessing the livery is applied to what appears to be a class 80X from the video (though I'm not 100% sure on this), has a unit actually been rebranded or is it a computer preview?

 

[physics34]

Stripes please

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Could they concentrate on the product instead of the image please?

 

[800Travel]

Wonder which stations the new identity will be present at

 

[Liam L]

Could they concentrate on the product instead of the image please?

Fully agree, Improve the product.

Me personally would like to see the names which are currently in use with Tocs kept. Plus it's saves money on rebranding everything and people are already familiar with them.

 

[vuzzeho]

I'm surprised it's so soon! But I'm interested in what it'll look like. What time can we expect it?

 

[Baxenden Bank]

Wonder which stations the new identity will be present at

Barlaston, British Steel Redcar, IBM, Manchester United Football Ground / FC Halt, Stanlow & Thornton, Teesside Airport and Wedgwood.

No unruly disgruntled passengers to keep out of the photo opportunity.

 

[Straus]

Wonder which stations the new identity will be present at

Derby would make sense

 

[Russel]

Excited to see this, yet dreading it at the same time.

 

[800Travel]

Barlaston, British Steel Redcar, IBM, Manchester United Football Ground / FC Halt, Stanlow & Thornton, Teesside Airport and Wedgwood.

No unruly disgruntled passengers to keep out of the photo opportunity.

Lol, I thought you were being serious until I saw Teeside Airport on the list I'd never heard of the other stations haha

 

[Bletchleyite]

It does from that deliberately blurred video seem to have followed my vague prediction of near enough being the Southeastern livery but with red and white flashing added. I'm not sure what the unit is, though - is it perhaps a Javelin set so it could be easily vinylled on?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Dec 2025 ==

Barlaston, British Steel Redcar, IBM, Manchester United Football Ground / FC Halt, Stanlow & Thornton, Teesside Airport and Wedgwood.

You're forgetting Denton and Reddish South. And surely we need to include Altnabreac even if presumably ScotRail won't take the GBR livery? Wouldn't the locals there love a visit from all the media?

 

[Transilien]

It’s funny that most of the train is blue, despite GBR not running any trains inside Scotland, just the cross border services.

 

[Ellwill]

Wonder which stations the new identity will be present at

My assumption would be at the very least:

• Birmingham New St
• Derby
• Edinburgh
• Euston
• Kings X
• Liverpool St
• London Bridge
• Manc Piccadilly
• Newcastle
• Waterloo
• York

 

[Bayum]

It’s funny that most of the train is blue, despite GBR not running any trains inside Scotland, just the cross border services.

But Southeastern livery is blue also and doesn’t run any services anywhere near Scotland?

 

[Transilien]

But Southeastern livery is blue also and doesn’t run any services anywhere near Scotland?

Blue represents Scotland on the Union Jack, which is what the livery is based on.

 

[Russel]

It does from that deliberately blurred video seem to have followed my vague prediction of near enough being the Southeastern livery but with red and white flashing added. I'm not sure what the unit is, though - is it perhaps a Javelin set so it could be easily vinylled on?

Using the Southeastern livery as a base wouldn't be a bad shout.

It's nothing special, but it's simple, smart and easy to maintain.

 

[Ellwill]

I'm not sure what the unit is, though - is it perhaps a Javelin set so it could be easily vinylled on?

Too much yellow on that nose for it to be a Javelin, if I were a gambling man I would say that it's a 5 car Azuma.