No it is not called British Rail anymore!!

[Minilad]

Do people still resort to jokes about British Rail Sandwiches

 

[DXMachina]

As in 'railways in Britain class 170'


What would you call it?

"Class 170 train (UK)"
Or "Bombardier Turbostar (Train)"

Or "TOPS Class 170 train" , thinking about it...

....And yes I did have to read the article before coming up with those.

 

[MidnightFlyer]

"Class 170 train (UK)"
Or "Bombardier Turbostar (Train)"

....And yes I did have to read the article before coming up with those.

Surely that should be 'Class 170 (UK train)'? Either way, it is a much more complex title. Plus Northern Ireland is in the UK, which uses a whole different system...

 

[Schnellzug]

Has it? I know there were trains to all sorts of weird destinations from Waterloo during Eurostar fever, but I thought those were all post-privatization.

The supposed Eurostar connecting services that used HSTs for a time were run by InterCity, I believe, round about the '94/'95 period.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

Do people still resort to jokes about British Rail Sandwiches

Well, there'd be a diminishing number of operators you could expect to get sandwiches from these days ...
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
!

As in 'railways in Britain class 170'


What would you call it?

Bombardier Class 170.

 

[Mojo]

The issue is that it reads ''British Rail'' instead of ''British rail.'' If they mean a train of the railway system in Britain, then this is in apparent contravention of their standard naming convention, which instead follows their category-based one.

However you can view the arguments for and against here

 

[Pumbaa]

Do people still resort to jokes about British Rail Sandwiches

Today at the office, we're running to British Rail time. Apologies in advance.

Or:

It's 4 o'clock. Or half past 2 in British Rail time.

 

[Oswyntail]

What doesn't help is that the double arrows which signified British Rail adorns virtually all National rail stations.

People see the sign and think ahh a British Rail station!

It was such a perfect symbol that it is now internationally recognised as a symbol for a station.
And i love the irony in your avatar.

 

[Cherry_Picker]

I have had people swear blind to me that a man in a "British Rail uniform" told them they could get on an earlier train with an Advance ticket.

Obviously a ghostly man who appeared in a wormhole from 1983...

There are still blokes who wear BR uniform to work to this day. It tends to be ties, blazers, jumpers (etc) but BR uniform has never gone away.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Very right and proper. If these TOCs are indeed franchisees, then the overall network should be referred to as British Rail (with "This service is operated by ToyTown Buses" or some such in very small writing. . . . .

This makes nothing but perfect sense from the point of view of a visitor to the UK.
They'll not want a corporate logo for Virgin, Stagecoach or ToyTown this week and Taxis-R-Us next week when trying to get from Gatwick to Glenrothes.
They'll want the sort of signage that is comprehensible anywhere - a sign that indicates a point of access to the UK rail network.

I feel strongly that one of the errors in privatisation (I'm biting my lip, now) was in the branding of public points of access, services, public-facing-staff uniforms and tickets, where they are presenting themselves as if they were a joined up railway network.

Do people still resort to jokes about British Rail Sandwiches

Yes, but they're never funny.

Hasn't that become one of the transport sector's greatest contributions to English idioms, sitting along side "the man on the Clapham Omnibus" and "there's no safer means of flying than by 'plane"?

 

[DXMachina]

...... BR uniform has never gone away.

Nor have the sandwiches, sadly.

 

[yorksrob]

I feel strongly that one of the errors in privatisation (I'm biting my lip, now) was in the branding of public points of access, services, public-facing-staff uniforms and tickets, where they are presenting themselves as if they were a joined up railway network.

Surely points of access are branded as if they are a joined up network, whereas uniforms and tickets aren't presented as a joined up network ?

 

[RichmondCommu]

Some of the tube lines make a distinction between "suburban" and "intercity" rail services. The Northern line, for instance, considers Waterloo to have intercity services (despite it never being a part of BR InterCity), but that Charing Cross only has suburban services—is Dover a suburb of London now?

Well as far as I'm aware Dover is not a city but Exeter, Southampton and Portsmouth are. And the vast majority of services running into Charing Cross are very much suburban.

Hope this helps.

 

[Gathursty]

Commuters at Kearsley station do see the word 'British Rail' prominently under the bridge, as did I about two weeks ago.

 

[PR1Berske]

The double-arrow is a perfect piece of design. It might be old but there's very few logos/emblems which has the staying power and resilience.

 

[Mojo]

British Rail is still pretty much commonplace in London to clarify that someone isn't talking about an Overground/DLR/Tube station. For example when I was looking at flats in London many estate agents would advertise the location of the property by its proximity from British Rail stations where the Tube wasn't nearby. Example: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-20401470.html

 

[Via Bank]

IIRC a reader's letter/mail/text to the Metro newspaper a few years ago said that "this conductor on South West Trains to Manchester" sounded like Jack Dee. hock:

 

[dvboy]

People still refer to XC as Virgin and LM as Central trains.

Branding can take a long time to shake off. Only a month ago my dad talked about something he watched on "ATV Today" when he meant Central Tonight (on a channel that has changed name five times since ATV last broadcast in 1982).

 

[Solent&Wessex]

Commuters at Kearsley station do see the word 'British Rail' prominently under the bridge, as did I about two weeks ago.

Just looked on Google maps. Is it still there? Surprised it hasn't been Northernised like everything else. Hellifield, for example, used to have one of those. Now it just has a blue sign which says "Welcome to Hellifield" with a tiny little BR logo in the top right corner which is so small you miss it unless you are right next to it, and a much bigger Northern logo underneath. Doesn't identify anything - what does "Welcome to Hellifield" mean? If you don't know what the Northern logo means what does that indicate? Everyone knows the BR logo and what it means - I wish in some situations it had greater prominence. Lots of TOCs have replaced station entrance signs with their own branding with tiny or non existent BR logos, but much bigger examples of their own logos.

 

[island]

Do people still resort to jokes about British Rail Sandwiches

I saw one of those joke "what to do if..." sites mentioning "what to do if you accidentally ingest a Railtrack sandwich".

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Woe betide any engineer who allows the platform edges at the station between deal and Ramsgate to become curled up...:roll:

 

[Michael.Y]

I do make the joke sometimes that I sell "Railway tea" - it'll put hairs on your back...

 

[Schnellzug]

Nor have the sandwiches, sadly.

Oh, they have. I yearn, sometimes, for the days when you could get a nice straightforward cheese & tomato for £1.95, rather than a poscietto and bruscietta panini for £4.95.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

People still refer to XC as Virgin and LM as Central trains.

Branding can take a long time to shake off. Only a month ago my dad talked about something he watched on "ATV Today" when he meant Central Tonight (on a channel that has changed name five times since ATV last broadcast in 1982).

Arriva Trains Vales?

 

[Michael.Y]

Oh, they have. I yearn, sometimes, for the days when you could get a nice straightforward cheese & tomato for £1.95, rather than a poscietto and bruscietta panini for £4.95.

We sell a Ginsters Cheese Ploughmans....admittedly for £3.70, but still.....

 

[4SRKT]

Arriva Trains Vales?

Is this vhat zey are called in Germany?

 

[Badger]

People still refer to XC as Virgin and LM as Central trains.

My friends are convinced when they travel with London Midland, they are travelling with "Centro".

Oh, and there is a "Stamford Airport", a "Birmingham Broad Street", and a "London Marlborough".

 

[Howardh]

To me, British Rail is still British Rail - just broken up (pointlessly? - discuss) into different bits. The British don't like branding, especially when it involves something they're familiar and comfortable with. My old folks still call the post and phones "the GPO", and why shouldn't they? When I go to London from Manchester, I'm not going on a Virgin, I'm going on a train (which just so happens to be run by a bloke in a beard who likes to wear wedding dresses).
To those who live where I live, Manchester Airport is still, and always will be, Ringway.

 

[Greenback]

That reminds me, my mother still refers to the Gas Board and the Electricity Board! I don't think she knows who actually supplies the house!

 

[ChrisCooper]

Same happened on the buses when local brands were replaced by corporate identitied in the late 90s, and still does to an extent. The Arriva buses around here were refered to for a long time by many as Midland Fox, which they used to be, and when they were Midland Fox many used to call them Midland Red. Back in Midland Red days they probably called them BMMO. Both NCT and First (Leicester) still get called the Corporations by older people. People still use the South Notts bus even though it's been owned by NCT for 20 years and has been in NCT colours for quite a few years now (although they do still carry the name on the buses and on the timetable).

Of cource as well as British Rail, another big transport one is London Transport.

 

[LE Greys]

My friends are convinced when they travel with London Midland, they are travelling with "Centro".

Oh, and there is a "Stamford Airport", a "Birmingham Broad Street", and a "London Marlborough".

My godfather called Strathclyde services the "Blue Train" right up to his death last year (he was in his eighties). If he'd lived another few years, he might well have seen Caledonian blue making its return at Singer.

 

[Schnellzug]

That reminds me, my mother still refers to the Gas Board and the Electricity Board! I don't think she knows who actually supplies the house!

Even i can't get my head round all that confusion. We have British gas doing lectric, the water people doing Gas, the Gas people selling insurance, and the Electric people are now called Scottish & Southern Electric -Scottish & Southern? That's completely irrational! But it's all the same gas and Electric! They don't each make their own, it's supplied to them by N-Power or Radion or someone, and it's sent down the wires care of National Grid! It's all completely insane! For everyone who complains that the Railways are complicated, i recommend them to take a look at that.