Best/Worst liveries/station colours

[mallard]

Ok, just wondering if anybody has any opinions on the best/worst colour schemes used by the various operators?

Mine:

Best:
EMT/SWT liveries - Good bright colours that tend to fit nicely with the lines of the vehicles. EMTs 222s look great, and SWTs 442s were one of the few classes that in my opinion look better post privatization.

Southern - Nicely respectful of heritage, station colours work well. Not entirely sure about the large circles on the livery, but overall it looks good.

Worst:
SouthEastern - Despite having the same parent company as Southern (Govia), SouthEastern's colours are pretty awful.
The livery frankly looks like they haven't even bothered. Grey stripe at the bottom to cover Connex's yellow stripe and the doors painted the same yellow as the train front (probably the only colour they had in stock).
The station scheme is even worse. A horrible mauve colour covering all the lovely Victorian metalwork and clashing badly with all the red-brick station buildings. Yuck!

 

[gordonthemoron]

NXEC is fairly dire, not convinced about EMT

I quite like First & XC

 

[me123]

I like Scotrail's new one; it stands out and it's very modern. I also like Virgin for the same reasons. SPTs was good, but I remember and see decaying paint. Obviously they're not going to make a point of keeping these nice, but it's a sad end to a good livery. Despite the pink, I also quite like XC.

I'm sort of indifferent on NX's new livery. I preferred GNER's for sure. But I don't dislike it. In fact, at stations like Durham and Darlington, I think their station scheme looks really good!

 

[emoaconr]

I like XC's livery, its quite distinctive and the pink seems to work well.
My least favourite of current liveries has to be National Express - dire, dull and a step back from the liveries they replaced. ATW's isn't terribly exciting to be honest, as I preferred the "star" livery of North Western in its heyday

North Western's red and green painting of stations in Wales seems to contrast well on the heritage stations, though Arriva's off-aqua seems to be creeping in slowly, which seems too flourecent for early 20th Century metalwork.

 

[222001]

I like
First TransPennine Express - The best dynamic lines livery, suits the 185s.
East Midlands Trains (Mainline) - This really does look good on the 158s (better than SWT too as it contains more blue, looks ok on the 222s too).
Midland Mainline (222 livery) - I liked the this livery on the 222s, it was a shame to see it go.

I don't like
East Midlands Trains (Local) - What a garish mix of colours. The dark blue makes it look awful.
Northern Spirit - Glad thats gone. Looked awful.

 

[gordonthemoron]

WY Metro colours look good on the Skipton & Ilkley trains but crap on the others

 

[BlythPower]

I agree with SWT - the liveries, whilst different across the groups (inner suburban, outer suburban, long distance) , have a good family likeness. The First liveries are OK too for that reason. The now obsolete ONE livery was a good one. I also like the ATW turquoise.

Northern’s is weird – why have that change of level partway through? For that matter, why have such uninspiring colours? I’ll put on fire retardant clothing now… the GNER livery was really dull and lifeless

 

[GospelOak117]

NXEA has a nice corporate look and the new station signage, still quite rare (not inc modified WAGN, FGE or Anglia one) has quite a BR Corporate era thing going on. Its a shame that one of the few stations to have been completely repainted with new signage, Highams Park has been so badly vandalised so quickly, all the new signage is scratched and covered in graffiti, as are the walls and windows.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Has SWT got a new style of Station Signage as I drove past the newly renamed Pokesdown for Boscombe station the other day and on the outside the signs were blue with white writing?
Also will London Overground be replacing all the signs with Underground Roundels across the LO network eventually? That would look awful. The current station image with the Orange and Black signs and Beige/White painted buildings looks good.

 

[LilLoaf]

I like the First group Dynamic lights livery on the FTPE, FGW, FCC, not conviced with the Scotland rail colours or whatever they are calling themselves now !

I really don't like the idea of NXEA idea of putting a white stripe down units that have been in the One livery. Like on the 315's but thats not the intended colours so probs doesn't count. Therefore my least favourite colour is Southeastern or Grand Central both equally horriable.

 

[GospelOak117]

I like the First group Dynamic lights livery on the FTPE, FGW, FCC, not conviced with the Scotland rail colours or whatever they are calling themselves now !

I really don't like the idea of NXEA idea of putting a white stripe down units that have been in the One livery. Like on the 315's but thats not the intended colours so probs doesn't count. Therefore my least favourite colour is Southeastern or Grand Central both equally horriable.

I agree that Grand central is awful, that American theme on our railways is awful, as is having DB Schenker liveried freight locos. Its embarrassing.

 

[WillPS]

I really really liked Midland Mainline's teal "Bambi" livery (still on some units on the CrossCountry network) and Central Trains' livery, both worked particularly well on Turbostars. I even like the uber-cheap way in which Central rebranded units for their final 5 years, it led to some nice variety across the network.

I quite like Stagecoach's express livery, but the blue local one is a bit rubbish. Virgin's original livery was cool but I'm not sure about the use of grey in the new one.

My least favourite has to be the WYPTE colours.

 

[berwickspotter]

Love scotsrail's new livery and i also liked GNER
But i hate NXEC its rubbish

 

[Chester025]

Where's the 'froth' smilie?

 

[LilLoaf]

Well i think the best livery of all time was back in 1995 i think, and yeah am going back a bit here, best livery was the Northern Spirit Transpennine Express class 158's. As seen here

http://www.therailwaycentre.com/DMU photo file/158_TransPOrig

Its there if the image insert doesn't work (not quite got the hang of that yet.

Eee that is my favourite livery off all time, nothing can beat that for me. Inside them units with the pink dotty First class seats and the Blue dotty Standard class seats were great aswell.

Anyone else like that one.

 

[delt1c]

All time favorite livery is the Blue Grey, with the finest application being on a rake of Mk2a's on ECML with D9013 in Rail Blue at the front , you had to be there in 70's to appreciate it. Then it was applied to the humble DMU's on refurbishment and completely transformed them, remember seeing and my 1st Blue grey 101 it was like a new unit.
Post privatisation livery would be the WAGN as applied to the refurbished 317/6's , bright and fresh but conservative enough to stand the test of time.
Quite a few liveries have been applied over the years which at the time looked fantastic , but quickly dated.
Worst livery was the Pauper purple applied to our beloved 317/5's, someone at Natex must have had it in for the 317's.
Current Silver livery looks realy good on the 317's and I look forward to seeing it on a 315 as I think it would transform these under rated units.

 

[37401]

Best Liveries Intercity Swallow, FGW "Fag Packet", Virgin Red and Black,The OLd MML livery,GNER Mainline Blue, BR Large Logo and EWS

Worst Liveries DB Red, DB Red, DB Red and erm.. DB Red!

 

[WillPS]

Well i think the best livery of all time was back in 1995 i think, and yeah am going back a bit here, best livery was the Northern Spirit Transpennine Express class 158's. As seen here

http://www.therailwaycentre.com/DMU photo file/158_TransPOrig

Its there if the image insert doesn't work (not quite got the hang of that yet.

Eee that is my favourite livery off all time, nothing can beat that for me. Inside them units with the pink dotty First class seats and the Blue dotty Standard class seats were great aswell.

Anyone else like that one.

Love 'em - although I kind of love them more now with the remnants of about 4 other operators on the exterior. Crazy things!!

 

[Daimler]

Best Liveries

No. 1 is GNER, by a mile - especially on the HSTs, with proper cast iron crests on the bodysides (and before the stupid contrasting doors - something Chris Garnett hated).
No. 2 is probably SWT/EMT - they just look smart, with the contrasting schemes for urban/suburban/intercity.
No. 3 is London Midland - smart, tidy, and appears to wear well - even dirty, trains look good in it.

Worst Liveries

1. Without a doubt, Silverlink. I mean, who came up with it? Lime green, violet, and yellow doors? Who - who - ever thought that would be a good idea?
2. 'One' - just ghastly. Awful, dirty looking bluey-purpley-grey, with stupid, ugly stripes. Dreadful name too.
3. National Express East Coast - looks OK on EMUs, but makes intercity trains just look cheap, plastic, and generally awful.

Notice something about my 3 worst? Funnily enough, they are all National Express companies...

EDIT: I've limited myself to post-privatisation, otherwise best liveries would be LBSCR 'improved engine green', LNWR 'plum and spilt milk', LNER apple green & teak, GWR brunswick green with chocolate and cream coaches, LMS maroon...etc.

 

[Aictos]

Best Liveries

No. 1 is First Great Western/TransPennine Express with the First Swirl.
No. 2 is Intercity Swallow/Regional Railways/NSE.
No. 3 is BR Freight ie LoadHaul, RFD etc...

Worst Liveries

No. 1 is National Express East Coast/Anglia looks awful on InterCity stock.
No. 2 is South Eastern, seriously needs to change that livery.
No. 3 is DBS.

 

[Pumbaa]

Agreeing with Daimler, the absolute worst is Silverlink, and I've had to put up with it every day for years!

I also like the blue SE livery on the Javelins, I would have liked to see that "express" livery spread across the rest of the fleet.

I find the LM livery boring and uninspiring. My favourite, without a shadow of a doubt, is the old MML livery. Looked amazing on the 222s and suited them very well.

As an aside I also despise the First corporate livery. The dynamic lines I can cope with, but the thing that grates me every time I see it is the bit of white around the doors... why is it there?!

 

[BlythPower]

The trailers of AXC's class 25x units look very smart in the new livery. I'm not so convinced by the 'warm black' ends on the DMBs though. It's similar with the NatEx circuit board scheme - it suits coaches/units better than it does locos/DMBs.

I seem to be the only one who quite likes the SouthEastern livery...

 

[daccer]

It does amaze me at how quickly a livery can appear dated. Some of it may be sub conscious i.e as soon as you know a livery is being replaced it loses some of its sheen but in general i think there has been a gradual improvement in livery shcemes since privatisation began. If you compare the new and old FGW liveries the new definitely seems to have more sparkle. LM compares favourably with Central and the putrid Silverlink. I think the new Scotrail livery also is more striking than the Barbie and SPT it will replace.

I think the new DBS livery is OK but is it perhaps just coincedence that the locos always seem to be clean - I am not usre how it will do when it gets grubby. Also the wagon fleet is in need of some tlc - the coal hoppers arem just moving billboards for graffiti - how will DBS feel about their brand identity when their name is covered in TOX09.

What has always perplexed me a little is that so much money and effort has gone into brand awareness and corporate identity yet some of the companies have missed the boat completely - National Express spring to mind. Their silly names and colour schemes were I suppose intended to stick in the mind but they really did miss the point. People dont want their trains to be quirky and irreverant, They want them to be dependable and solid. I think NatEx have got themslves in a mess over branding - NXEA is a mix of weird and wonderful colour schemes and the white stripe isnt really doing a lot to help either. It looks like NXEC is going back to the govt with half the fleet rebranded - what happens now?. I see that C2C are starting an overhaul programme soon on the 357's. Is the name and livery being retained for that franchise. What I dont understand is that Northern Rail which is operated on a shoestring can afford to undertake a proper organised rebranding of its fleet and NatEx couldnt.

 

[emoaconr]

It does amaze me at how quickly a livery can appear dated. Some of it may be sub conscious i.e as soon as you know a livery is being replaced it loses some of its sheen but in general i think there has been a gradual improvement in livery shcemes since privatisation began. If you compare the new and old FGW liveries the new definitely seems to have more sparkle. LM compares favourably with Central and the putrid Silverlink. I think the new Scotrail livery also is more striking than the Barbie and SPT it will replace.

Though liveries stuck around for decades under BR, and nobody ever thought against them.

I loathe the First "Fag packet" designs... comparing with the Dynamic lines of now, it just shows how much attention to identity and livery has come along.

Privatisation led to so many liveries, and its true that when a new franchise comes along, the re-livering process takes months or years, leading to one franchise with a ridiculous amount of liveries on their stock. And as the period of the franchise goes on, companies re-fresh their identity again, not to mention periodical stock shuffles also! Its a mad process in reality, and I think its led the public to link liveries with a corporate brand less and less.

Station re-branding is a pointless exercise in my opinion. The lax mish-mash of some companies using Rail Alphabet fonts, others (biggest culprit = Network Rail) using fancy logos and coloured backgrounds on their signs leads to a confusing situation, and again, re-franchising leads a huge expense on re-branding stations. I know many TOCs look after their stations better than the BR days, but it bemuses me what they are allowed to do to the stations, not to mention killing off Rail Alphabet at the same time.

On the better side, it gives us something to look at and talk about

 

[jopsuk]

I reckon the combined West Anglia/Stansted Express 317 fleet has to be one of the worst for multiple liveries- there's a few now in NXEA livery, but there remain most in at least two different Stansted Express liveries, the white-striped 'one' livery (with shabbily painted over stripes) and even the old WAGN livery (the white one) which they never got round to repainting under 'one'. Even a few of the the NXEA liveried ones are looking a bit sad, with faded logos.

Still, gets me to work, and at the end of the day. that's all that matters.

 

[westcoaster]

best: i quiet like wrexham & shropshire (still waiting for a full rake in one livery)

worst: the new london tramlink lime green colour/ wypte/ southeastern though the livery does suit the 376's but not the networkers/508/375

 

[kvbham]

Virgin Livery all the way!

 

[me123]

Privatisation led to so many liveries, and its true that when a new franchise comes along, the re-livering process takes months or years, leading to one franchise with a ridiculous amount of liveries on their stock. And as the period of the franchise goes on, companies re-fresh their identity again, not to mention periodical stock shuffles also! Its a mad process in reality, and I think its led the public to link liveries with a corporate brand less and less.

Station re-branding is a pointless exercise in my opinion. The lax mish-mash of some companies using Rail Alphabet fonts, others (biggest culprit = Network Rail) using fancy logos and coloured backgrounds on their signs leads to a confusing situation, and again, re-franchising leads a huge expense on re-branding stations. I know many TOCs look after their stations better than the BR days, but it bemuses me what they are allowed to do to the stations, not to mention killing off Rail Alphabet at the same time.

Agreed. that's why I like Scotrail's new livery. Nationalism aside, it's a strong identity and will undoubtedly save money and time in the future sending trains off for a lick of paint every few years. This is worse in England with the 7 year franchises; by the time the trains are painted, the franchise may well be over!

 

[dojo]

I...quite like southeastern's metro trains - don't really understand all the hate. But best are SWT, FGW and Virgin.

Worst has to be Southern - sorry but that logo looks like it was pulled right from the 1940s. What a boring font along with a boring colour scheme. Eurgh.

 

[1D53]

What I dont understand is that Northern Rail which is operated on a shoestring can afford to undertake a proper organised rebranding of its fleet and NatEx couldnt.

Northern have been around 5 years and they've still not finished!

 

[driver9000]

Northern have been around 5 years and they've still not finished!

And only really got going with repaints about 18 months ago! I like the finalised Northern livery but the vinyl adverts on the purple swoop ruin the look.