First Group - New Bus Livery

[trentside]

First Group have revealed their new local bus livery, which places more focus on local identities.

http://www.passengertransport.co.uk...ches-uk-bus-division-with-new-local-liveries/

I'm not sure what to make of it.

 

[whhistle]

Looks more urban. And like Northern Trains. But Whhistle approves (Y)


I wonder what First Great Western livery would look like. . .

 

[Ivo]

This new livery looks worse than the existing Barbie. And what happens when vehicles inevitably get transferred elsewhere, in some cases frequently? Do they have to change from Leeds to York and back every other week?

I just don't see the point. I also wonder if it would spell the end of the Bright Orange, although the way things are going that may well happen before long anyway!

 

[anthony263]

This new livery doesnt seem to be going down well with a number of people including the bus enthusiasts.

I think a lot of us could come up with something better ( A competition perhaps?)

I wouldnt mind seing the old SWT livery being used again by First Cymru however that may be a bit of a problem considering there is another bus operator in south wales named South Wales transport.

 

[jon0844]

Looking at the train liveries, I do wonder why the buses use such pale colours for the majority of the bus - which makes even a new bus look dated.

Personal opinion of course.

 

[90019]

Personally, I quite like it.

 

[Schnellzug]

Perhaps it's not fair to judge from one, not the hugest quality picture, but, as some of the comments say, it'll take more than that to rescue First Group from mediocrity. It's probably academic what one's opinion of it may be, anyway, since it'll probably be 15 years before the less high profile parts of the empire begin to see it. One suggestion, I see, was that "They should have used a design similar to the livery used on Great Western Trains (possibly a tad simpler – the vinyls may be a bit complex to add)", which might have been interesting.

 

[Max]

Yuck, don't like that! Very 'blocky' and dull. Surely something like 'dynamic lines' would look far more attractive?

 

[martinsh]

This new livery looks worse than the existing Barbie.

IMHO it would be absolutely impossible to be worse than the existing 'livery' !
This new one is still pretty dire, but at least there is less of that hideous pink.

What's wrong with the nice red and yellow livery recently used by First Potteries ?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27302738@N06/6175399361/

 

[Royston Vasey]

The whole stripe-diagonal-stripe thing is very dated, as are the colours.

Reminds me of VFM Buses from the early 90s.

 

[ChrisCooper]

Was thinking it's got a very post deregulation feel to it. Personally I don't think it's too bad, but don't like the Leeds lettering on the side, one colour would look much better and be easier to read (especially since pink on white isn't the best contrast, then gets overpowered with the dark blue, I mean just look at the First Leeds, First is easy to read, Leeds less so). On and replace the white with that grey/blue that's behind the first stripes. White looks so cheap, and gets dirty, and doesn't go well with pink.

 

[jon0844]

Why do the buses need to have places on them? Do the users not know where they are?

I find that buses with route maps or numbers on the livery (like many local buses here in Herts) are silly too - as they often end up standing in on other routes, which just adds confusion. That's surely for the front, side and rear displays to show?

 

[anthony263]

,

What's wrong with the nice red and yellow livery recently used by First Potteries ?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27302738@N06/6175399361/

Nothing wrong with it in fact it dies look good, now how about first repaint thie rbuses in Bristol back into Cityline or Badgerline colours ( I think perhaps 1 or 2 members here might like that)


I fact I want my old Brewers livery back

 

[Schnellzug]

I'd thoroughly approve of Badgerline coming back. Or Southern National green, although perhaps with slightly newer buses this time.

There is a school of thought that says that people want their Buses to have a recognisable local identity; that's the approach that Go Ahead take, although on the other hand Stagecoach seem to do reasonable well with a strong corporate brand. Maybe the general standard of presentation & maintenance is a more important thing? (hint, mr. Fearnley)

 

[anthony263]

I'd thoroughly approve of Badgerline coming back. Or Southern National green, although perhaps with slightly newer buses this time.

There is a school of thought that says that people want their Buses to have a recognisable local identity; that's the approach that Go Ahead take, although on the other hand Stagecoach seem to do reasonable well with a strong corporate brand. Maybe the general standard of presentation & maintenance is a more important thing? (hint, mr. Fearnley)

I do agree that it is better for stagecoach to keep their livery as it is a national brand

 

[trentside]

I do agree that it is better for stagecoach to keep their livery as it is a national brand

Stagecoach do occasionally vary their colour scheme for specific routes or groups of routes - or types of vehicles (like Hybrids or Bio-fuelled buses). We've got a few examples of this in the Stagecoach East Midlands fleet, but most manage to maintain a similar layout to the main livery, thus keeping the brand image strong.

 

[83G/84D]

Yuck, don't like that! Very 'blocky' and dull. Surely something like 'dynamic lines' would look far more attractive?

They have recently tried something similar to that on a First Devon & Cornwall Volvo coach and very smart it looks!

 

[trentside]

They have recently tried something similar to that on a First Devon & Cornwall Volvo coach and very smart it looks!

Here's a picture;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29197902@N06/6720586295/

The last I'd heard they were closing their Truronian unit - obviously they've changed their mind.

 

[Schnellzug]

Here's a picture;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29197902@N06/6720586295/

The last I'd heard they were closing their Truronian unit - obviously they've changed their mind.

Now that'd make an excellent coach livery. Mind you, the coach livery was already better, being predominantly blue.

 

[sprinterguy]

The whole stripe-diagonal-stripe thing is very dated, as are the colours.

Reminds me of VFM Buses from the early 90s.

I personally would welcome a return to post-deregulation style liveries. Ah VFM buses, happy days! And it does seem to be the case that similar fashions and styles come back round once every generation, about every 25-30 years or so...But with that said, I don't think that the new First livery is it. It's too bland: The old liveries had some impact in their colours.

 

[tbtc]

The whole stripe-diagonal-stripe thing is very dated, as are the colours.

Reminds me of VFM Buses from the early 90s.

I think its much like the old GRT liveries (before they merged with Badgerline).

They used to have the same template against a cream body, but with different colours (dark green for Grampian in Aberdeen, blue for Midland Bluebird, mid green for Eastern/SMT etc).

Have a look at this example of the Midland Bluebird livery: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2598/3956430870_0582b68352.jpg - a modern version/ tribute?

I'm not a fan of the new colours, they don't look sufficiently different to the current ones to justify the change - I'd have more navy on the bus if it were up to me (the white gets grubby)

To be fair to First (and Stagecoach/ Arriva etc), if they have a national livery then it has to be different from any other operator in any town/city, so something like red/yellow is bound to clash with a local bus company somewhere. They kind of have to go for something a bit "strange"/"eyecatching" I guess.

 

[driver9000]

First have repainted at least one Trident from the Edinburgh fleet into Eastern Scottish livery. At first I thought it was a heritage livery but now I'm wondering if we are going to see Eastern colours back on the streets of Edinburgh? Probably wishful thinking on my part really.

 

[OMGitsDAVE]

I actually like it.

 

[83G/84D]

Here's a picture;
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29197902@N06/6720586295/

The last I'd heard they were closing their Truronian unit - obviously they've changed their mind.

I took some similar pictures about a week ago and put them on some bus forums on Yahoo Groups.

 

[90019]

First have repainted at least one Trident from the Edinburgh fleet into Eastern Scottish livery. At first I thought it was a heritage livery but now I'm wondering if we are going to see Eastern colours back on the streets of Edinburgh? Probably wishful thinking on my part really.

32222, I think. From what I've heard, it was accident damaged, and once fixed was repainted.
Whether any more will be done, I don't know.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

I personally like the new livery that First Manchester now use on the 17 and 18 services to Middleton and to Rochdale.

Stagecoach Manchester's use of the colour green on their new environmentally "more-friendly" buses is quite a striking image that portrays the "green" agenda well.

 

[ChrisCooper]

I think its much like the old GRT liveries (before they merged with Badgerline).

They used to have the same template against a cream body, but with different colours (dark green for Grampian in Aberdeen, blue for Midland Bluebird, mid green for Eastern/SMT etc).

Have a look at this example of the Midland Bluebird livery: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2598/3956430870_0582b68352.jpg - a modern version/ tribute?

Red and Maroon in Leicester and Northampton: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dh73/2500358840/
When First first brought in the corporate livery it was only for new deliveries, low floor (except new double deckers) that had the corporate interior. For others there was more freedom, and the East part of the company brought in a similar template livery of yellow with either Red (Eastern Counties), Green (Eastern National), Blue (Yarmouth) or Purple (Thamesway) at the bottom.

 

[tbtc]

Red and Maroon in Leicester and Northampton: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dh73/2500358840/
When First first brought in the corporate livery it was only for new deliveries, low floor (except new double deckers) that had the corporate interior. For others there was more freedom, and the East part of the company brought in a similar template livery of yellow with either Red (Eastern Counties), Green (Eastern National), Blue (Yarmouth) or Purple (Thamesway) at the bottom.

Great link, thanks, I couldn't remember all the other colour schemes

I thought that First had a great livery policy back in the day, it ensured that their "corporate" colours were only associated with the "best" buses (modern/ low floor), it represented a Great Leap Forward (compared to step entrance vehicles with bench seats etc).

I'd like to see something like that Leicester livery brought back - the same brand but with maybe a different local colour to it

 

[WillPS]

Meh, they're not really 'local'. In fact the Stagecoach buses in Sheffield have murals on some of their buses depicting sights across the route - I'd argue they feel more local than just sticking the name of the city in block caps.

 

[VTPreston_Tez]

Something similar operates Axminster to Weymouth linking the stations; the 31. (not my local 31) with only this being a bit darker. I hope I get to see this!