Great British Railways: Thoughts, predictions, speculation

[godfreycomplex]

British Overground Access Key (Boak) will replace the Railcard, with more functionality as a Contactless App with integrated payment such as Google Pay or PayPal

Heh heh heh

 

[notverydeep]

ConRail

Perhaps with this logo:

View attachment 96341

[Image: connex logo and wordmark]

Presumably Conrail would have its previous logo:



Amusingly, the original Conrail was also collection of assorted private rail companies that were crashing and burning (money) that were put together by government (the US government of course) to try to rescue them. In this it was fairly successful and of course because of this, it was eventually split up and privatised...

 

[urpert]

British Overground Access Key (Boak) will replace the Railcard, with more functionality as a Contactless App with integrated payment such as Google Pay or PayPal

*spits out coffee*

 

[tbtc]

I was not seeking to define what "nationalised" means; merely to correctly frame the question. Although the public thinks that the railways are privatised, they are of course nothing of the sort.

My point is that it is not a binary choice, though it is presented as such. And railways have never been either wholly privatised (they required Acts of Parliament to come into being), or nationalised (BR used private contractors, suppliers etc.).

Sure, I'm just highlighting that the "Completely nationalised, no private involvement at all" can mean a lot of things to different people

It's not as if BR was fully nationalised in my lifetime (if "no private involvement at all" is the definition that we are using)

People talk of "nationalisation" but generally without much definition of what it actually means (and consistency - e.g. if you aren't happy with the operator leasing the trains then is it okay if they lease other things, or do they have to purchase everything up front?) - but then a lot of the time people see "nationalisation" as a desirable end in itself (rather than just being one means to an end)

 

[LUYMun]

How about "Hendy"? Nice, short, memoriable, and named after someone we all know.
TOC will then have their logo alongside "operated on behalf of Hendy".

 

[ac6000cw]

Presumably Conrail would have its previous logo:

View attachment 96399

Amusingly, the original Conrail was also collection of assorted private rail companies that were crashing and burning (money) that were put together by government (the US government of course) to try to rescue them. In this it was fairly successful and of course because of this, it was eventually split up and privatised...

Well off-topic, but Conrail still exists (jointly owned by NS and CSX) to provide 'neutral' local freight and switching services to its owners in three 'shared assets' areas (which were carved out of the original Conrail system when it was split between NS and CSX).

it was eventually split up and privatised...

Conrail was actually privatised (as a single entity) in 1987 - the split-up and takeover by NS & CSX was about 10 years later (and cost them a large fortune - the Conrail shareholders did well out of that deal...)

 

[PaulJ]

RailUK

But the UK includes Northern Ireland… Unless Translink will be subsumed under this proposal.

 

[Mikey C]

Great British Railways... I was hoping it was another documentary with Michael Portillo

You beat me to it!

All rail staff will have to wear bright coloured jackets and trousers, and instead of online timetables, we'll all have to use a trusty Bradshaw's

 

[whoosh]

Bradshaw's British Branch Committee Lines

Snappy. Historical legacy. Geographically relevant. Thomas the Tank Engine reference. Public accountability. Encompasses all routes.

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, and tick!

PR God!!!!

 

[A0]

As long as there's a sensible brand name, consistent branding (ie: Rail Alphabet, double-arrow etc) throughout the country (possible excluding Scotland/Wales) and no political interference, I'm happy.


(I'm not convinced that the latter will actually happen... )

Does the removal of political intereference extend to RMT, ASLEF, TSSA et al ?

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

Nobody's mentioned Mr Portillo's credentials to head the new enterprise.
He has global railway knowledge after all, and ran the show as a junior minister about 30 years ago...
He's a year younger than Peter Hendy.
And supposedly not a political appointment, either.

 

[Peter Sarf]

As for a name it will have a latin or southern European twist as that seems to be the fashion these days.

How about "Ferra UK", Systeme UK", "Intra UK".

All new names seem to have a vowel at the end but maybe "Island Lines", "Carriages in-on line".

It won't be a sensible name whatever name it has and someone will be paid plenty to come up with it.

 

[Bletchleyite]

So preventing competition then? Got it.

On rail competition is a fallacy. Stick to competing with the car and air.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 May 2021 ==

Probably so... I'm sure "Worst Late Western" was a thing, as was "Worst Crapital Disconnect", "Northern Fail" etc.

To be fair, though, it's pretty hard to come up with a name that you can't twist in this way.

There has been "Miseryfail" since the 70s. Not just a privatisation thing!

 

[Mikey C]

On rail competition is a fallacy. Stick to competing with the car and air.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 May 2021 ==



There has been "Miseryfail" since the 70s. Not just a privatisation thing!

British Snail, Notwork Southeast, Inter Sh*tty etc

 

[Wolfie]

Clearly there is appetite for there to be a form of a nationalised brand identity, even though the operator would be a private company. We have specified brand names across the country (Scot Rail, Metrolink, Merseyrail, Tyne & Wear Metro) but they are operated by private operators whose name is secondary. We could have:

• GBR Intercity or GBR Express
• GBR South East
• GBR Scotland
• GBR Wales
• GBR North
• GBR Midlands
• GBR South West

Each operated by different company.

I see zero chance of the Scots or Welsh devolved assemblies accepting branding devised by an English Tory government.

 

[JKF]

British Snail, Notwork Southeast, Inter Sh*tty etc

And earlier than that, the ‘Late and Never Early Railway’, WC and Pee etc...

 

[Bletchleyite]

How long before a newspaper runs with "Not so Great British Railways"?

 

[och aye]

While I realise this is just a plan on the drawing table at the moment. I'd assume the devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales wouldn't be included in this plan in regard to ScotRail and TfW Rail respectively, but Network Rail in Scotland and Wales would be integrated into this new organisation (or perhaps devolved to the Scot Gov. and Welsh Gov?).

 

[baz962]

British Railand . Like British Leyland.
Where's my coat.

 

[Journeyman]

Note - first use of the term "fat cat" by the new RMT Gen Sec Mick Lynch.

This actually goes some way towards giving the RMT what they want, and they instantly attack it.

 

[Andyjs247]

It would have to be called Rail Britain or something similar given the current fad for putting the geographical element last. Some non-railway public bodies include Police Scotland, Forestry England, Natural Resources Wales, Public Health England etc

 

[birchesgreen]

A lot of signs already say National Rail, seems a good neutral name to me. Why does it need the country in the name, its not like SNCF or DB are going to cross over and build rival networks.

 

[LNW-GW Joint]

A lot of signs already say National Rail, seems a good neutral name to me. Why does it need the country in the name, its not like SNCF or DB are going to cross over and build rival networks.

That's OK until you have 28 National Rails across Europe.
Or we have 3 National Rails in GB.
I think it needs a better descriptor.

 

[Mat17]

I like the idea of resurrecting 'British Rail', in name at least. Not sure about heading for nationalisation though, directly run by the government? Hahaha...

I wouldn't let politicians run anything to be honest.

We've already revived GWR and LNER... It won't hurt to add another.

I'm all for patriotism, but not sure the arguments earlier against 'British' are as key as the fact that BR didn't exactly coat itself in glory in its former life... The joys of curled sandwiches and the neverending parodies about it throughout the 1970s. Hardly a beacon of national pride to begin with.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I like the idea of resurrecting 'British Rail', in name at least. Not sure about heading for nationalisation though, directly run by the government? Hahaha...

I wouldn't let politicians run anything to be honest.

Politicians have more control of the network now than when it was BR. BR was an arms length type organisation - politically influenced but not directly controlled by DfT other than its budget.

 

[Doctor Fegg]

A lot of signs already say National Rail, seems a good neutral name to me. Why does it need the country in the name, its not like SNCF or DB are going to cross over and build rival networks.

Yeah, what are the chances of SNCF, DB, Trenitalia or NS getting involved in running British trains.

Oh wait.

 

[Welshman]

How interesting. What could we call this new body ? Obviously "British" something, as the Union is very much uppermost in all our minds, and maybe then something to do with "Railways" or "Rail" for short.

And, if they want an emblem, how about a wheel, representing motion, and something to represent greatness, eg. a lion?

 

[Cantab26]

And, if they want an emblem, how about a wheel, representing motion, and something to represent greatness, eg. a lion?

Like this?



[Image: lion on wheels]

 

[mwmbwls]

Just a few of questions on the granularity of responsibilty:
Who will be responsible for Transport and Works Acts preparation?
Who will have the grip on Grip ?
Inherent in the above - who will have the responsibility for delivering and paying for the national decarbonisation strategy?
Does this mean the end of TfN - but the survival of TfW?
The term "slash costs" is much bandied - who,what,where,when,how?????

 

[Cantab26]

But the UK includes Northern Ireland… Unless Translink will be subsumed under this proposal.

RailUK suggested in jest given the forums we are using...

I’m not sure how many more times I’m going to have to do this