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

[nilvaj395]

Add a red curved sweep up after the dark blue on the current Northern livery and it'd look quite decent to be honest (the blue is already about right for the flag). Simple shapes work with brash colours.

@Bletchleyite I was literally about to suggest this too! I like the current Northern livery, and all it needs is a little more.

I am generally a fan of darker and colourful (not excessively white) liveries, so I would much like the idea of a Chiltern/Northern Rail 200 style livery, but that would also be a much better option. The goal is to hint and have a bit of class to things rather than scream a design in someone's face. I feel like this is something that the likes of ScotRail achieve a really good balance of.

 

[gswindale]

The Scotrail livery works well because it is symmetrical and almost looks like a saltire between carriages.

This monstrosity of a livery has neither of these, which is a huge downside. I can't sort of visualise it being done on a 4/8 coach train to look vaguely sensible, but having a 3-2 split on the livery of a 5 car will just be odd

It would definitely be better if the flag-waving was kept to the driving units though.

 

[b0b]

The Swallow livery was understated and premium. It made our trains look like good, solid machines. This is a tacky, plasticky nightmare that just emphasizes the flimsy, uncomfortable nature of most of our trains these days.

the genius of the swallow logo was it was both understated and absolutely nailed the concept of fast and smooth travel. I don't see it ever being topped.

 

[Sparks807Evo]

This, this, and this - the new Chiltern livery is really good. I was also going to suggest the Northern Rail 200 livery (158903), with a splash of white or red (and with needless graphics removed), which might also work.

Thanks and agree with you on the Northern Rail 200 livery - another great starting point!

If you go with a bold colour - you either need to offset it with a fair amount of white with some swishes, go for a simple straight line design (so it doesn’t look messy) or go for similar colour palette for most of the colours with a small splash of the third etc.

Be interesting what AI would produce as an output

 

[Sorcerer]

Absolutely not a fan of this livery. Much too busy and overbranded and does not compliment the shape of the trains whatsoever. I am fine with using the red, white and blue colour scheme, but it's application should've been more subtle and not so brash and in-your-face.

Personally I'd have kept dark blue as the base colour along with white doors and saved the red for the background of coach lettering and maybe for swooshes on the end of each train akin to the old Virgin livery or Northern 333 livery, and maybe have a long horizontal white line to run parallel beneath black window bands to break up the monotony of the dark blue base colour.

 

[Elecman]

I wonder if they have the vinyls on the wrong way round on the second coach as it would look better reversed

 

[Dougal2345]

Embargo lifted 2230.

If you had meant we wouldn't have to look at it for another 205 years, I would be cheering

 

[Class 800]

Be interesting what AI would produce as an output

This livery looks AI generated. It’s just terrible that our beloved InterCity trains have to be defaced like this.

Even Avanti and LNER’s liveries now are miles nicer than this clunky, abysmally designed livery.

They could have brought Swallow back. They had the chance. If they wanted to appease the people who think Britain’s best days have been and gone the best thing would have been to bring back a strong symbol of those times.

I like our Union flag. I think this AI generated looking livery does it – and our trains – a great disservice.

 

[nilvaj395]

On the topic of Northern, the WYMPTE 333s do hilariously suit the requirements of a GBR livery better than this design, too.

 

[izvor]

Does the Transport Minister have shares in a dark glasses company?

 

[trains999]

the design doesn’t flow between carriages. the design will look a mess if you see a train moving at some speed.

i hope they keep regional branding because it is useful to identify that you are actually getting on the correct train.

 

[Crithylum]

That is beyond hideous.

Well said. If it were just one carriage, it would be ok. The way the carriages are “joined” (or not joined) together is utterly hideous.

 

[Crant90045]

Seems very similar
to the NSE signage, or is it just me?

 

[nilvaj395]

Thanks and agree with you on the Northern Rail 200 livery - another great starting point!

If you go with a bold colour - you either need to offset it with a fair amount of white with some swishes, go for a simple straight line design (so it doesn’t look messy) or go for similar colour palette for most of the colours with a small splash of the third etc.

Be interesting what AI would produce as an output

I was curious, so I inserted a shade of red in between the 158903 livery, and it really does not look that bad...

 

[Crant90045]

 

[b0b]

It works on NSE livery because while the colours are brash the livery shape is smooth and understated. Brash colours with simple shapes work, think NSE or South West Trains. Brash shapes with simple colours work, think TPE. Both together makes it too brash.

A big part of what made NSE work too was the interesting and varied "route branding" that was always eye catching

An example of station branding:View attachment 193516
Text reads "GBR A railway owned by you"

not the worst but has vibes of the Great Northern banner.

 

[williamn]

Absolute amateur hour. That’s not a logo.

 

[Class 800]

Was I the only one who hoped that maybe Swallow could make a return?
Our railway should not be used to virtue signal.

 

[Crant90045]

I was hoping theyd bring back the old liveries, Or atleast something as subtle as the names of the subdivisions, Clearly not though

 

[Sorcerer]

Bringing back the old liveries would've been nostalgia pandering at best and would've not done much good for building the image of a railway of the future. I for one welcome the decision to not use old liveries as a basis because GBR needed it's own identity. But even if they did, it surely couldn't have been worse than the rubbish they've just thrown at us now.

Part of me feels bad for how much disliking this has received because the graphic designer could've very well put some hard work into this and wouldn't exactly have much of a confidence boost if they were to read the criticisms here, but at the same I just couldn't bring myself to be so dishonest and pretend like it's good in any way shape or form when, quite honestly, it just isn't.

 

[trains999]

considering the great design variation of trains in service at the moment, i really don’t think that this livery is suitable. fair enough, it looks decent enough (barely) on the azuma… but is this going to look good on a sprinter? is it going to look good on a turbo star?

obviously it’s hard to make a livery suitable for every train ever, but it’s definitely possible to create something a bit more….forgiving? i feel like it will only look okay on trains with triangle faces, and will look stupid on flat faced ones.

 

[EdChap]

I am really looking forward to seeing this new livery on the 2 Stourbridge shuttle units!!

 

[RUK]

I wonder what it’ll look like on locomotives, such as the Class 68, Great Western Railway’s Class 57s/any rescue locomotives there might still be (I seem to remember seeing a Class 67 and maybe a Class 66 in a siding outside King’s Cross some years ago), Class 92s, and potentially new/future locomotives, such as the Class 93s and 99s, if they end up on passenger services, as they have been re-painted for passenger services in the past (or another future Stadler Euro loco, since they seem to be the future). Will it be double-ended/roughly mirrored?

Or even on Class 37s, Class 73s, and Class 43s, since Network Rail will be subsumed into Great British Railways, as well. Does Network Rail still have any Class 31s, or anything else? Network Rail do have single-carriage Class 153s, as well. I guess we’ll see it on Mark 1, Mark 2, and Mark 3 carriages too, since I believe Network Rail have them in their fleet.

 

[Crant90045]

Network rail do not have 31s anymore

 

[sad1e]

I am really looking forward to seeing this new livery on the 2 Stourbridge shuttle units!!

Thank god freight is no longer nationalised , imagine a class 70 in this new livery.

 

[Ellwill]

Part of me feels bad for how much disliking this has received because the graphic designer could've very well put some hard work into this and wouldn't exactly have much of a confidence boost if they were to read the criticisms here, but at the same I just couldn't bring myself to be so dishonest and pretend like it's good in any way shape or form when, quite honestly, it just isn't.

The BBC says this was produced in house by DaFT serpents, who probably used generative AI pretty heavily to 'assist' them...

 

[sabanda]

I wonder what it’ll look like on locomotives

It was probably designed with absolutely zero consideration, or indeed awareness, of the presence of loco-hauled trains on the network

 

[Class 800]

The BBC says this was produced in house by DaFT serpents, who probably used generative AI pretty heavily to 'assist' them...

Of course they did.
They should consult on this. So we can all tell them as the traveling public, how utterly disgusting it is.

At least CrossCountry’s pink and turquoise gets shape right even if it is quite bright. I am not against bright colors, but the combination of color and shape is wrong here.

And I always wanted InterCity to be a brand of its own

 

[Sorcerer]

The BBC says this was produced in house by DaFT serpents, who probably used generative AI pretty heavily to 'assist' them...

Well, if that's the case I feel no guilt whatsoever calling it absolute rubbish. In fact I feel more guilt at insulting graphic designers for suggesting one could've potentially designed this new livery.

 

[co-tr-paul]

I see the GWR 57s in NSE livery ....... !