Great British Railways - First Train in New Livery

[Bletchleyite]

Exactly. I do however think during privatisation there should have been more default / universal liveries to avoid the extra cost im painting trains if they were to change operators. Theres been alot of silliness over the years.. great eastern had about 6 different liveries on its units at one point. Now though with a new corporate identity its good to get everything the same when units are due for repaint. A few trains vinyled in the new livery will not break the bank.

A key part of privatisation as originally conceived was enterpreneurialism and individuality between TOCs as well as product differentiation and competition. All of that needed dedicated liveries and branding packages as a whole.

Latter day privatisation, particularly post COVID, was (and is, where it remains) more like London Buses or the Bee Network in that the authority calls the shots and the operator literally does just that with little commercial freedom, so there's more sense in that now, but obviously nationalisation has changed things anyway.

 

[720144]

deleted.

 

[RUK]

GBR unit 5, 357203 booked in passenger service today according to rtt.

Just to be clear and unambiguous for the other people here (I know that you yourself know because you’re the one who posts the information about the Class 357 re-paints in their dedicated thread), 357 203 is the 5th Class 357 in GBR | Anglia livery, due for its first run out in passenger service today, after 020, 008, 201, and 202, rather than the 5th train in GBR livery overall, which was 357 020, after the GBR | Southern Class 387, the GBR | South Western Class 701, and the 2 GBR | Anglia Class 720s, with the 4 subsequent Class 357s being the 6th to 9th trains in GBR livery overall.

 

[Russel]

I wonder if the 357s will be the first class to be fully GBR'ed?

 

[RUK]

I wonder if the 357s will be the first class to be fully GBR'ed?

I doubt it, because 51 out of the 74 of them (69%) have just been re-painted into the white-and-magenta Trenitalia c2c livery, which was surprisingly switched part-way through the re-painting programme to the GBR | Anglia livery for the final 23 units (31%). So I think they’ll be among the last classes to be fully in the GBR livery, though they’ll be the first class to have a significant proportion of their members in the GBR livery. 2 of the 11 Class 357/2s and 5 of the 17 Class 357/3s are already in the white-and-magenta Trenitalia c2c livery too, so they won’t form the first full sub-classes to be in the GBR livery, though most of the ones in the white-and-magenta Trenitalia c2c livery are Class 357/0s - the only Class 357/0s that are in, and will be in, the GBR livery, for the foreseeable future, are 020 and 008, the first 2 Class 357s in the GBR Anglia livery, out of 46 total Class 357/0s.

 

[Russel]

I doubt it, because 51 of them have just been re-painted into the white-and-magenta Trenitalia c2c livery, which was surprisingly switched part-way through the re-painting programme to the GBR Anglia livery

Fair enough, I didn't realize how many had already been repainted!

Nothing stopping them wrapping them though in theory.

 

[yorkshirerail]

I’ve heard that there will be an Azuma and possibly a Mk4 set in GBR livery by the end of next week

 

[GoneSouth]

That or they have a problem with the loss of the interesting aspect of multiple, frequently changing brandings and liveries on the railway, as that's an item of interest for enthusiasts.

Haha that’s one thing I won’t miss! Same with the buses, it’s a real mess out there, some cohesion will be a good thing. It will actually look like somebody has control at last! (Whether they actually will or not remains to be seen, but it will at least look like it).

Good grief when we leave the TOCs to choose the paint it turns into a nursery art session. XC lipstick at each end, WM mismatching vivid orange and burgundy, the atrocities that were Northern lilac and prior to that Northern spirit lime green and turquoise, First sloshing Barbie pink on everything etc. What a mess and I for one am glad that’s coming to an end.

 

[Davester50]

I’ve heard that there will be an Azuma and possibly a Mk4 set in GBR livery by the end of next week

I'm looking forward to that - especially after the Glasgow Central ticket barrier advert debacle!

 

[172007]

Haha that’s one thing I won’t miss! Same with the buses, it’s a real mess out there, some cohesion will be a good thing. It will actually look like somebody has control at last! (Whether they actually will or not remains to be seen, but it will at least look like it).

Good grief when we leave the TOCs to choose the paint it turns into a nursery art session. XC lipstick at each end, WM mismatching vivid orange and burgundy, the atrocities that were Northern lilac and prior to that Northern spirit lime green and turquoise, First sloshing Barbie pink on everything etc. What a mess and I for one am glad that’s coming to an end.

WM Orange livery is an exception. Not sure anyone knows if it was Abelo or the WM Combined Authority who designed it so it may not necassarily be a TOC livery and would have happend under BR replacing Cenntro Blue and Greeb.

 

[RUK]

I’ve heard that there will be an Azuma and possibly a Mk4 set in GBR livery by the end of next week

So locomotives-wise, we might see the Class 91 before the Class 68! Chiltern won’t become GBR/DfTO until the 20th of September, a week after that.

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I’ve heard that there will be an Azuma and possibly a Mk4 set in GBR livery by the end of next week

Where have you heard that from, sorry?

I'm not sure why they'd waste time on a MK4 set when it's already going to take yonks of time to sort the Azumas. I'd have thought it better to just get on with those, seeing as they'll actually be here in two/three years time.

 

[yorkshirerail]

Where have you heard that from, sorry?

I'm not sure why they'd waste time on a MK4 set when it's already going to take yonks of time to sort the Azumas. I'd have thought it better to just get on with those, seeing as they'll actually be here in two/three years time.

A friend told me today that he was talking to a catering manager on a service today and that they told him this information

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

I doubt it, because 51 out of the 74 of them (69%) have just been re-painted into the white-and-magenta Trenitalia c2c livery, which was surprisingly switched part-way through the re-painting programme to the GBR Anglia livery for the final 23 units (31%).

I respect them for that. XC will have painted everything pink by the time it's nationalised.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 1 Sep 2026 ==

A friend told me today that he was talking to a catering manager on a service today and that they told him this information

Right okay. I guess we'll see. Of course there were also previous rumours that two GBR Azumas would emerge at the end of June and that didn't happen, so we can't always trust he said she said, but we may be lucky!

 

[Cach17]

I’ve heard that there will be an Azuma and possibly a Mk4 set in GBR livery by the end of next week

As much as I adore the 225s, I can't see why they'd waste applying any new livery on a train that not only got a repaint just several years ago but is also being withdrawn in just several more.

I hold out hope that one gets repainted in GNER colours as a retirement gesture.

 

[XCTurbostar]

As much as I adore the 225s, I can't see why they'd waste applying any new livery on a train that not only got a repaint just several years ago but is also being withdrawn in just several more.

I hold out hope that one gets repainted in GNER colours as a retirement gesture.

You mean like the Chiltern blue stripes livery? Yeah..

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

You mean like the Chiltern blue stripes livery? Yeah..

Oh come on, it’s only one and the flagship of the fleet, set to be around for yonks. The 225 is no longer the flagship and will be gone in two years. It’s completely different.

 

[CR165022]

I'd argue the 165s or 168s are the flagship of Chiltern rather than the MK5s. But then again not like they'd ever dare put the livery on a DMU first.

 

[imtom]

WM Orange livery is an exception. Not sure anyone knows if it was Abelo or the WM Combined Authority who designed it so it may not necassarily be a TOC livery and would have happend under BR replacing Cenntro Blue and Greeb.

It’s in the TfWM brand guidelines so presumably some aspects of it were set by the WMCA - orange as the modal colour for rail being the obvious one.
Would assume most of the actual design and implementation were done by the agency: https://www.samjessupdesign.co.uk/west-midlands-railway / https://www.samjessupdesign.co.uk/west-mids-trains-new

 

[Bletchleyite]

It’s in the TfWM brand guidelines so presumably some aspects of it were set by the WMCA - orange as the modal colour for rail being the obvious one.
Would assume most of the actual design and implementation were done by the agency: https://www.samjessupdesign.co.uk/west-midlands-railway / https://www.samjessupdesign.co.uk/west-mids-trains-new

I believe Jessup now works directly for LNER so may well have been involved in some way in the GBR livery.

 

[99009]

Here's the latest list then after the gen from post 1143.

357008 - GBR Anglia
357020 - GBR Anglia
357201 - GBR Anglia
357202 - GBR Anglia
357203 - GBR Anglia
387172 - GBR Southern
701006 - GBR South Western
720144 - GBR Anglia
720501 - GBR Anglia

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

Here's the latest list then after the gen from post 1143.

357008 - GBR Anglia
357020 - GBR Anglia
357201 - GBR Anglia
357202 - GBR Anglia
357203 - GBR Anglia
387172 - GBR Southern
701006 - GBR South Western
720144 - GBR Anglia
720501 - GBR Anglia

+ Unidentified MK5 set

 

[AndrewP]

I’ve heard that there will be an Azuma and possibly a Mk4 set in GBR livery by the end of next week

What a shame - replacing two good liveries with a bad one

 

[TT-ONR-NRN]

What a shame - replacing two good liveries with a bad one

That’s a very blanket statement. There will be multiple people who think the other way round. I know because I’m one of them.

 

[Goldfish62]

What a shame - replacing two good liveries with a bad one

Indeed. LNER Azuma livery with a bit of tweaking would form a good basis for a resurrected InterCity brand.

 

[vuzzeho]

View attachment 210666
Not my photo.

Doubt anyone who's seen me around this forum will be surprised but I love this livery on the Mk5As. The evolution from the initial photoshopped 80x image is notable, and I really like this iteration.

I’ve heard that there will be an Azuma and possibly a Mk4 set in GBR livery by the end of next week

That'll be interesting, but I (of course, no disrespect to you) question that a Mk4 would be done, considering their age and imminent replacement. Open to be surprised, though.

 

[Russel]

That’s a very blanket statement. There will be multiple people who think the other way round. I know because I’m one of them.

Indeed, I think it's a bit of a marmite livery though and needs to be seen in person, I didn't like it when announced but after seeing the 387 in person, I actually really like it.

 

[800002]

It will be identified purely by sound alone, being next to the loco, you'll hear it before you can visually see it

Have they also removed the cycle door branding / colour, too?

I thought the first class stripe was ingrained into the design (but that doesn't mean much these days).

 

[sabanda]

Have they also removed the cycle door branding / colour, too?

A huge step backwards if so.

 

[Merle Haggard]

Have they also removed the cycle door branding / colour, too?

I thought the first class stripe was ingrained into the design (but that doesn't mean much these days).

Presumably GBR are in the UIC, so it ought to be obligatory - in the recent past, the ones that used it were subsidiaries of mainland European state railways, who were.