First Great Western unveils rebranded Great Western Railway trains

[editor]

Prepared to be disappointed.

Rebranded Great Western Railway (GWR) trains have been unveiled by the firm formerly known as First Great Western.

By re-adopting the historical name, the company hopes to "rediscover the pioneering spirit" of the service that first ran on the line.

Three of its trains have been decked out in green and start running later.

Managing director Mark Hopwood said the rebrand was a "historic milestone", to recall what Isambard Kingdom Brunel first achieved in 1833.

The new-look company said it had no plans to increase its fares, but the changes have resulted in staff union disputes.

"It is the perfect opportunity to launch the Great Western Railway once again," said Mr Hopwood.

"It's a new dawn for our railway and we're excited to be at the helm."

Tim O'Toole, chief executive of FirstGroup, the operator of GWR, called it a "railway steeped in years of tradition".

"The franchise will see new or refurbished trains on every part of the network, resulting in more frequent and faster journeys and an increase in the number of seats, keeping people moving and communities prospering."

First Great Western unveils rebranded Great Western Railway trains - BBC News

 

[SikhWarrioR]

Recon the old GWR "shirt button logo" would look better and are not there some 57s in proper Swindon Green and with "Castle" names around for the Penzance sleepers

 

[porp]

Yes. Meanwhile, the announcements at our local station are keen to stress the GWR branding of the train that is X minutes late. I've never understood this desire to associate a new brand with failure - contrast this with TfL's decision to avoid Crossrail branding its railway operation on the ex-Liverpool Street lines. Also, enough of the Brunel stuff please. Yes, I get it, your customers like Clarkson, so they'll probs have heard of Brunel. But it seems that any development on the railways in the West or Wales gets a Brunel reference. It's such a cliche now to hang your corporate hat on his 'legacy'.

 

[Bungle73]

Yes. Meanwhile, the announcements at our local station are keen to stress the GWR branding of the train that is X minutes late. I've never understood this desire to associate a new brand with failure - contrast this with TfL's decision to avoid Crossrail branding its railway operation on the ex-Liverpool Street lines. Also, enough of the Brunel stuff please. Yes, I get it, your customers like Clarkson, so they'll probs have heard of Brunel. But it seems that any development on the railways in the West or Wales gets a Brunel reference. It's such a cliche now to hang your corporate hat on his 'legacy'.

The trains won't be branded as "Crossrail" until 2017. The "TfL Rail" name is only temporary.

TfL Rail - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Crispy]

They've started repainting the HSTs too. I like it. Much nicer than the old blue and pink.


GWR 43188 + 43187 - Exeter St Davids - 25.09.15 by Exeter Trains Photostream, on Flickr

 

[editor]

If they're going to call themselves the GWR, where is the lovely chocolate and cream coaches?

 

[SikhWarrioR]

Prepared to be disappointed.

They could have made a better effort to get closer to GWR Swindon Green than that if they are going to call themselves GWR though considering the puke inducing first livery it replaced its a vast improvement though not proper GWR and I say that with hands on hears as a GCR man

 

[teccuk]

I'm not disappointed at all. I like the new colours ALOT more than the puke inducing pinks and purples.

Not yet seen an HST yet but the little ones are lovely. When they fix the lighting and seats in the HSTs it'll be better.

Now if only we could rid ourselves of Worstgroup.

 

[SikhWarrioR]

I'm not disappointed at all. I like the new colours ALOT more than the puke inducing pinks and purples.

Not yet seen an HST yet but the little ones are lovely. When they fix the lighting and seats in the HSTs it'll be better.

Now if only we could rid ourselves of Worstgroup.

If we could get rid of worst group for both train operations and their bus operations totally agree with you

 

[SikhWarrioR]

If they're going to call themselves the GWR, where is the lovely chocolate and cream coaches?

There used to be a Three car Cl 117 running around in full GWR Chocolate and cream livery looked real smart it did and WE on LUL did a Seven Car 59 stock train in 1920s Red/Cream/Brown livery even recreating the 1920s seat covering pattern and route maps

 

[teccuk]

The uniforms are also very nice. Saw my first yesterday.

Well if comrade corbyn gets in first have laid the way for a lovely publicly owned GWR at their expense, so cheers first!

 

[Dogsauce]

There used to be a Three car Cl 117 running around in full GWR Chocolate and cream livery looked real smart it did and WE on LUL did a Seven Car 59 stock train in 1920s Red/Cream/Brown livery even recreating the 1920s seat covering pattern and route maps

The chocolate and cream 117 was for the GWR 150th anniversary in 1985. They had that unit running up and down the Portishead branch as part of the celebrations.

 

[doddles]

Prepared to be disappointed.

Because rebranding has such a big impact on service quality...

FFS, this is a prime example of the sort of corporate bullshit that seems to qualify as business leadership these days.