Awful marketing taglines for public transport

[TheManOnThe172]

My favourite Customer Service slogan isn't transport related but for a skip hire company (in New Zealand). "Satisfaction Guaranteed - or double your rubbish back"

 

[Nammer]

The one on Stagecoach current blue blob livery that says 'Comfy luxurious seating' when it is just the same old seating.

 

[Royston Vasey]

The post-dereg ones are the best.

“Busways - Always” (or at least til 1994 when Mr Souter comes along with a big cheque)

I don't remember that one but the buses all said "An Employee Owned Company" under the Busways logo. Until, as you say, it was replaced by a coloured bar stating "PART OF THE STAGECOACH GROUP". So very much "not any more"!

 

[Joe Paxton]

The classic GMPTE Metroshuttle "Making the city work together" next to 3 gears jammed together so they can't turn.

'Making the city jam up together'!

That poster was a really daft effort... I can only imagine the widespread reception of tut-titting that it got!

 

[Megafuss]

First Leeds "Getting there for you"

Nice branding shame about the tagline

Pass the sick bucket

 

[Joe Paxton]

First Leeds "Getting there for you"

Nice branding shame about the tagline

Pass the sick bucket

Almost sounds as if they'll go in your place... don't fancy work today, no worries, First Leeds will get there and stand in for you... the exam you're not looking forward to, no worries, your bus company will go there and do it for you...

 

[Llandudno]

Arriva Sapphire - making your journey sparkle!

 

[JD2168]

Yorkshire Terrier used to have ‘Sheffield’s friendly buses’ on the side, they were no different to Mainline/First in this area

 

[kevconnor]

On the railway side, in the mid-2000s, Iarnród Éireann ran a series of TV adverts to try to rehabilitate its reputation for poor reliability and service standards by extolling the levels of capital investment in the network; it had the strapline. We’re not there yet, but we’re getting there. Which isn't the most reassuring message from a transport provider.

 

[GusB]

On the railway side, in the mid-2000s, Iarnród Éireann ran a series of TV adverts to try to rehabilitate its reputation for poor reliability and service standards by extolling the levels of capital investment in the network; it had the strapline. We’re not there yet, but we’re getting there. Which isn't the most reassuring message from a transport provider.

"We're getting there" was also used by British Rail in the 1980s.

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

"We're getting there" was also used by British Rail in the 1980s.

Nothing more reassuring than Jimmy Savile advising you that “This Is The Age of the Train” as you clamber aboard a filthy first generation DMU or get travel sick on a Pacer!

That said, some of the examples being cited aren’t that egregious. Some enthusiasts have an outright hatred of any marketing save for (naturally) a full multi operator timetable booklet and map!

 

[Lewisham2221]

'Making the city jam up together'!

That poster was a really daft effort... I can only imagine the widespread reception of tut-titting that it got!

I honestly can't imagine it - because I really don't think that all that many people would be analysing the mechanical accuracy of a simple marketing poster for a free bus service

Close second is "the really good bus company" from Trent Barton, a bus company which seems in every way utterly bog-standard apart from their baffling insistence on confusing unfamiliar passengers by not properly numbering their routes. What is "really good" about them? I'm not sure anyone really knows.

It's probably time for them to retire that slogan now - if anything because they've been using it for yonks and it feels a little tired now, accuracy of the slogan notwithstanding - but they were a really good bus company. Things do seem to have gone massively downhill for them in recent years - certainly since Covid - but 15 or so years ago they were widely respected and well regarded. I'm not going to go into it too much, but their branding system seems to be very much Marmite - personally I like it, and kudos to (the old) them for being one of the few operators that fully committed to their branding strategy. However I expect that clashes with the expectations of traditionalists.

That said, some of the examples being cited aren’t that egregious. Some enthusiasts have an outright hatred of any marketing save for (naturally) a full multi operator timetable booklet and map!

Agreed. Heaven forbid any form of branding, or a colour palette that doesn't look like it came straight from the 1950's - and talking of straight, don't even think about including any curved lines on the livery...

Probably one of the most famous marketing gaffes by a bus company was when, in 2015, New Adventure Travel in Wales plastered on the backs of buses photos of scantily-clad individuals holding placards that read, "RIDE ME ALL DAY FOR £3".

View attachment 195695

What were they actually thinking? Need I say anything more?

(Image: Wales Online)

Not particularly tasteful, but the press coverage certainly drew far more people's attention to the offer - I wonder if that was a deliberate ploy? What is it they say? Any publicity is good publicity?

 

[Springs Branch]

Not long after deregulation GM Buses vehicles used to carry a slogan "Pick You Up Tomorrow As Usual". Presumably to emphasise GM Buses in its 'employee-owned' era was the reliable, experienced operator who had been around for donkeys' years and knew what they were doing - as opposed to fly-by-night Fred Bloggs Coaches-style operators who were appearing on the deregulated scene.

Unfortunately, at the time, timetables & routes used to be adjusted and changed very frequently (was it every three months, or something?). It was well before on-line timetables, apps or real-time tracking, so especially in the evenings or at weekends, you never really knew for sure when a bus was due to come along; timetables posted at stops may or may not be up-to-date.

After a couple of instances of me standing in bus shelters late on cold, rainy nights, waiting and waiting for a bus which never came, I stopped believing that GM Buses would "pick me up as usual" and started using the scruffy, maniac-driven local taxis which proliferated around the same time to get home.

 

[Megafuss]

Almost sounds as if they'll go in your place... don't fancy work today, no worries, First Leeds will get there and stand in for you... the exam you're not looking forward to, no worries, your bus company will go there and do it for you...

It just seems like really clumsy phrasing.

 

[Sealink]

Connex used the tagline "the way to run a railway" which i always found hilarious. They were a dreadful company. Their two train companies were a disaster and both contracts were stripped. Their buses in Sussex had such bad reliability that the council stripped many of their contracts. So the tagline basically said that "the way to run a railway" was to run a disaster train company with awful reliability and customer service.









If they were actually a good highly respected company then the tagline would have sounded a lot better.

Just crying out to be edited to "What a way to run a railway"!

 

[Bletchleyite]

I agree on the Stagecoach one, it's awful. It says to me "we've caught you out - we know you have no choice to put up with our shoddy service and high fares were it not for the national cap".

As aircraft are public transport in a form, special mention must go (as per the meme) to "Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday..." - I'll take "nothing" please!

And of course British Rail's "we're getting there" - not quickly enough sadly!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Jan 2026 ==

Just crying out to be edited to "What a way to run a railway"!

"The way to run a railway...into the ground".

 

[DunsBus]

Best Bus in the Country and Best Bus in Town on Scottish Bus Group vehicles around the time of deregulation in 1986.

Until the buses carrying the slogans broke down. Then it was a case of ""Best Bus Stuck at the Side Of The Road."

The most ironic tagline which I remember is the one used by the short-lived Yorkbus in 1999:
"Your money goes further with us."
It didn't go far, let alone further, as the company folded after a month.

 

[joieman]

As aircraft are public transport in a form, special mention must go (as per the meme) to "Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday..." - I'll take "nothing" please!

There is one version that says just that: "Nothing..."

Any opinions about Arriva's old slogan "Here to take you there"?

 

[TheGrandWazoo]

Any opinions about Arriva's old slogan "Here to take you there"?

Not really - just very vanilla. Could easily have been plucked from a 1970s National Welsh timetable!

 

[Galactic142]

Diamond WM used to have "better buses, better service, better catch one..." - which I never liked because it just sounds off grammatically!

 

[Gloster]

Diamond WM used to have "better buses, better service, better catch one..." - which I never liked because it just sounds off grammatically!

’Catch one’ also has a less savoury meaning.

 

[py_megapixel]

I'm not going to go into it too much, but their branding system seems to be very much Marmite - personally I like it, and kudos to (the old) them for being one of the few operators that fully committed to their branding strategy. However I expect that clashes with the expectations of traditionalists.

Agreed. Heaven forbid any form of branding, or a colour palette that doesn't look like it came straight from the 1950's - and talking of straight, don't even think about including any curved lines on the livery...

My issue is specifically with the practice of not numbering buses. I have no problem with route branding, or curved lines on liveries or anything like that... (I make exactly the same numbering-related criticism of, for example, Metrolink trams in Manchester).

The number has a useful practical purpose as a quick and unambiguous route identifier and there is no reason why it needs to interfere with the branding at all - see e.g. Witchway. Or to go a different route, there even some excellent examples of companies incorporating a number into the brand, as Trent Barton itself demonstrates on a few of its own routes! There is no reason at all why Trent Barton's route branding strategy couldn't work while also having a numbering, and their refusal to do so just comes across as needlessly obstinate.

 

[DunsBus]

My issue is specifically with the practice of not numbering buses. I have no problem with route branding, or curved lines on liveries or anything like that... (I make exactly the same numbering-related criticism of, for example, Metrolink trams in Manchester).

The number has a useful practical purpose as a quick and unambiguous route identifier and there is no reason why it needs to interfere with the branding at all - see e.g. Witchway. Or to go a different route, there even some excellent examples of companies incorporating a number into the brand, as Trent Barton itself demonstrates on a few of its own routes! There is no reason at all why Trent Barton's route branding strategy couldn't work while also having a numbering, and their refusal to do so just comes across as needlessly obstinate.

I remember Stagecoach South service 20 (Aldershot-Guildford) being branded as the Kite for several years, and for a spell was also "numbered" as the Kite. This coincided with the introduction of new route-branded E200s to the service in 2015, but when they were transferred to Guildford for the University of Surrey shuttles, the Kite was then run with E300s and Tridents. Perhaps not surprisingly, it reverted to being the 20 again in 2023.

 

[YX73OUB]

My issue is specifically with the practice of not numbering buses. I have no problem with route branding, or curved lines on liveries or anything like that... (I make exactly the same numbering-related criticism of, for example, Metrolink trams in Manchester).

The number has a useful practical purpose as a quick and unambiguous route identifier and there is no reason why it needs to interfere with the branding at all - see e.g. Witchway. Or to go a different route, there even some excellent examples of companies incorporating a number into the brand, as Trent Barton itself demonstrates on a few of its own routes! There is no reason at all why Trent Barton's route branding strategy couldn't work while also having a numbering, and their refusal to do so just comes across as needlessly obstinate.

In some cases numbers have returned to use post branding: 90, V3 and the combination of likeston network services being examples. As well as this there is the Hucknall connect service that whilst branded has no branded vehicles. Numbers have been retained in branded services like the sixes and nines but nowhere does the threes feature the number 3.

 

[coach fan]

If you know, you go national express

 

[Megafuss]

My issue is specifically with the practice of not numbering buses. I have no problem with route branding, or curved lines on liveries or anything like that... (I make exactly the same numbering-related criticism of, for example, Metrolink trams in Manchester).

The number has a useful practical purpose as a quick and unambiguous route identifier and there is no reason why it needs to interfere with the branding at all - see e.g. Witchway. Or to go a different route, there even some excellent examples of companies incorporating a number into the brand, as Trent Barton itself demonstrates on a few of its own routes! There is no reason at all why Trent Barton's route branding strategy couldn't work while also having a numbering, and their refusal to do so just comes across as needlessly obstinate.

Trentbarton’s route branding works because it reflected a genuinely different, reliable, long-term plan for the company as a whole, not just a marketing campaign.

Whereas copycats apply branding to unchanged or unsuitable services, so the brand has nothing real to stand on. It's still the same poorly run company (Hello Go North East)

Decades later, the likes of Red Arrow, Indigo, Mainline.etx don't need numbers because the brands are very very strong.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

Trentbarton’s route branding works because it reflected a genuinely different, reliable, long-term plan for the company as a whole, not just a marketing campaign.

Whereas copycats apply branding to unchanged or unsuitable services, so the brand has nothing real to stand on. It's still the same poorly run company (Hello Go North East)

Decades later, the likes of Red Arrow, Indigo, Mainline.etx don't need numbers because the brands are very very strong.

Names instead of numbers is just clunky and awkward though. Bus routes have been numbered for over a century, so it's second nature to tell people to catch the no. 71 from outside the railway station (or whatever). It worked, and changing that system just smacks of change for the sake of change. Saying "catch the Spira" just sounds wrong, to me a Spira is a much-missed chocolate bar. So then you end up having to explain that some marketing genius decided that numbers for bus routes was passé. Some of Trent-Barton's brands may be strong, but numbers just make sense. To me the word "Mainline" when it comes to buses still brings to mind yellow and red Volvos in Sheffield in the 1990s.

Using colours doesn't seem a terrible idea on paper, but it reminds me of First West Yorkshire's half-baked "Overground Network" idea from the early 2000s. Where the busier routes in each town were given colours, making the 370-373s in Huddersfield the "Orange Line" among others... a clever idea maybe, but nobody seemed to pay much heed to it and buses very quickly found themselves on the wrong routes. This was particularly bad if a bus branded for one colour in Huddersfield ended up working an inter-urban service into Halifax or Bradford where that same colour was also in use on a different route.

Without getting into the reality or otherwise of fires on electric vehicles, calling an electric coach service "Ember" was a brave move given the reputation of electrics (whether it was deserved or not). If one of their vehicles did have an incident the headlines would write themselves! So far it doesn't seem to have burned anyone's fingers though, thankfully.

(Edited for an auto incorrect I only spotted once I'd been quoted! )

 

[padbus]

Worths Coaches of Enstone, Oxon have been using “For a rattling good ride” for very many decades.

 

[edwin_m]

Names instead of numbers is just clunky and awkward though. Bus routes have been numbered for over a century, so it's second nature to tell people to catch the no. 71 from outside the railway station (or whatever). It worked, and changing that system just smacks of change for the sake of change. Saying "catch the Spira" just sounds wrong, to me a Spira is a much-missed chocolate bar. So then you end up having to explain that some marketing genius decided that numbers for bus routes was passé. Some of Trent-Barton's brands may be strong, but numbers just make sense. To me the word "Mainline" when it comes to buses still brings to mind yellow and red Volvos in Sheffield in the 1990s.

Using colours doesn't seem a terrible idea on paper, but it reminds if of First West Yorkshire's half-baked "Overground Network" idea from the early 2000s. Where the busier routes in each town were given colours, making the 370-373s in Huddersfield the "Orange Line" among others... a clever idea maybe, but nobody seemed to pay much heed to it and buses very quickly found themselves on the wrong routes. This was particularly bad if a bus branded for one colour in Huddersfield ended up working an inter-urban service into Halifax or Bradford where that same colour was also in use on a different route.

Without getting into the reality or otherwise of fires on electric vehicles, calling an electric coach service "Ember" was a brave move given the reputation of electrics (whether it was deserved or not). If one of their vehicles did have an incident the headlines would write themselves! So far it doesn't seem to have burned anyone's fingers though, thankfully.

A name may have to be abbreviated on information systems and departure screens if they are designed around a route number of no more than four characters.

In the specific case of TrentBarton their indigo route has two different destinations at the outer end and I think had three at one time. It seems much clearer to use different numbers or suffixes for these, as well as for any short workings.

Nottingham City Transport has sustained a colour-coded network for around 25 years now, which mostly works as they have a reasonable proportion of spare buses in a neutral livery so the wrong colour is fairly rare. The original Go2 branding didn't last too long, possibly because it looked like a route number!

 

[Leedsbusman]

A name may have to be abbreviated on information systems and departure screens if they are designed around a route number of no more than four characters.

In the specific case of TrentBarton their indigo route has two different destinations at the outer end and I think had three at one time. It seems much clearer to use different numbers or suffixes for these, as well as for any short workings.

Nottingham City Transport has sustained a colour-coded network for around 25 years now, which mostly works as they have a reasonable proportion of spare buses in a neutral livery so the wrong colour is fairly rare. The original Go2 branding didn't last too long, possibly because it looked like a route number!

Out of interest, I had a look at Indigo. It is a 10 minute Mon-Fri service Nottingham to Long Eaton with a 15 minute evening service and an hourly (30 mins weekends) overnight service. Alternate journeys extend to Derby or Briar Gate for most of the day. This is an impressive level of service. I assume the lack of a route number and suffix variant has caused a big decline in customer use and reductions in service level from the old days. It must have been an impressive frequency back then.