Metropol

cwathen wrote:At the start of privatisation South West Trains's very first livery was simply an extra vinyl on top of the existing NSE livery they inherited the stock in

I'm sure I read somewhere about those trains' warranty (or perhaps the paintwork's warranty) not allowing for them to be resprayed or vinyled, which is why they kept the NSE livery for so long.

iSon wrote:A thread going off topic about trains is actually very on topic, surely?

Can't....resist...

43062 has been completely rebranded and looks a bit different nowadays.



I'll get my duffle coat.

Yep, looks like it.

cwathen wrote:There is a new national scheme being rolled out of white on dark blue with no TOC branding, however it's entirely voluntary and some TOCs are staying firmly away from it (most notably FGW who are favouring replacing BR signs with sponsored signage styled similar to the branding of the sponsor).

Is that the style Network Rail use at their stations, or is it something different? Northern Rail's is also white-on-blue, though a different font (though I have seen a few Northern signs recently using white-on-blue in what looks like the old BR typeface, rather than Northern's- mostly on the "way out" signs, though it's also on a couple of the name signs on one station I go through). Leeds also has some white-on-blue signs in the old BR font, but I don't know if Network Rail have them at any of their other stations- certainly wasn't any at Edinburgh last time I was there, or on any of the photos I've seen of the new concourse at Birmingham New Street.

WillPS wrote:It's hugely wasteful; but not a jot on how expensive privatisation has caused the railways to become.

Although it should be noted that the average annual increase in rail fares post-privatisation has been markedly smaller than immediately pre-privatisation, contrary to popular belief.

You anoraks should get yourselves your own train / public transport thread, rather than derailing the high street rebrands.

tillyoshea wrote:

WillPS wrote:It's hugely wasteful; but not a jot on how expensive privatisation has caused the railways to become.

Although it should be noted that the average annual increase in rail fares post-privatisation has been markedly smaller than immediately pre-privatisation, contrary to popular belief.

Well, inflation was ~11% at that time...!

Treasury expenditure has risen massively since privatisation. Most of that has nothing to do with improved facilities or infrastructure, but to do with the ridiculous amounts which the "rolling stock companies" (which are banks) charging us indirectly for stock we paid for in the first place! The amount the banks paid for this stock originally was related to the original value with deductions made for each year the train had been in service relative to their expected life. This meant they paid a grand total of absolutely nothing for anything BR considered "life expired". This included the entire fleet of Pacers, all but 20 of which remain in service at a basic cost to the franchisee of £100-150k per train. The franchisee of course effectively hands on this cost (along with a markup) to the treasury.

billboard company CBS Outdoor (formerly Viacom Outdoor) have been spun off to some private equity outfit, and have taken a leaf out of the Consignia brand book by renaming themselves Exterion Media.

“Exterion Media, the new name, is distinctive and memorable, and it works in all of our markets. It combines ‘exterior’, which shows that we are experts in outdoor advertising, with a sense of being always active and helping brands engage the audiences they are after. ‘Media’ was chosen deliberately to show that we are not just experts in out-of-home, but the wider media landscape which is constantly changing, not least through some of the ground breaking innovations we are driving. We are very excited to be an independent, standalone business in a thriving sector and looking forward to the next chapter as Exterion Media.

Recently seen the Zizzi’s in High Wycombe with this new signage. Doesn’t look very Italian-like.

Is anyone else trying to play 'spot the BBC News presenter' with the above image?

Posted in the wrong thread.