Metropol

bbcnewsfix wrote:Sorry but is GWR a new thing, that is separate from FGW? Or is it a rebranded FGW?

Continuation of the company (management, staff, trains etc) but discontinuation of FirstGroup branding, colours etc. The Greater Western Franchise, whoever runs it, will now be known as GWR (operated by....)

First (pardon the pun) repainted / revinyled power car is out with new yellow nose design.

Alexia wrote:

bbcnewsfix wrote:Sorry but is GWR a new thing, that is separate from FGW? Or is it a rebranded FGW?

Continuation of the company (management, staff, trains etc) but discontinuation of FirstGroup branding, colours etc. The Greater Western Franchise, whoever runs it, will now be known as GWR (operated by....)

First (pardon the pun) repainted / revinyled power car is out with new yellow nose design.

Ah right! I get it now, because I've seen the new branding for GWR without a hint of FirstGroup. So I take it that FirstGroup are completely out of the picture now on all train services?

bbcnewsfix wrote:Ah right! I get it now, because I've seen the new branding for GWR without a hint of FirstGroup. So I take it that FirstGroup are completely out of the picture now on all train services?

Nope - they still have Transpennine Express. They are still operating GWR and will be until 2019 at least. There will be a small subtitled "Operated by First" text next to the door at the bottom of the coachwork as shown in a photo below.

So is everyone now "doing a Scotrail" with the branding? And if so, why are Virgin East Coast not part of this?

Pete wrote:So is everyone now "doing a Scotrail" with the branding? And if so, why are Virgin East Coast not part of this?

It is the DaFT's desire to have generic franchise names, but it's not official policy.

That pink interior really, uh, stands out against the green/silver.

The interiors of the doors are also being resprayed, and at least one set will get new upholstery. (That image is of one undone coach and a done coach.)

Couple of random things from me:

- Way back in July (but forgot to post it here at the time) I travelled in a new livery Abelio Greater Anglia train for the first time. I've been in a few with redone interiors but this was the first (and, thus far, only) time I'd encountered a new exterior. It was very Virgin-early-2000s with its doors painted with a diagonal effect and silver carriages. I hadn't realised that they were repainting exteriors - it did look rather nice and, coupled with the refitted interior, really gave the impression that the line is being looked after (I'm assuming that it is a repaint job and not new rolling stock, as the structure of the interior is the same as it always has been)

- Tying into the discussion above about removing company names from the franchises, I've just moved to First Capital Connect area - at least, it was the last time I was here. Since moving in last week and having made some journeys to London in the meantime, I've noticed that it's now known as Thameslink and has some lovely branding (IMHO). I'm really rather impressed by it all, really, plus it's a real novelty for me to be able get into/out of London in just 20-30 minutes. How long has it been Thameslink and not First Capital Connect? And are First still running the franchise! I've noticed some references to Great Northern around the place, too - who are they and are they involved with this franchise too?

Thameslink and Great Northern are now under the auspices of Govia, who also run Southern and London Midland. Since July 25th the whole of Southern, Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express are all technically one franchise, but they retain their individual brands.

First Cap Con finished almost a year ago on 14-9-14.

madmusician wrote:Couple of random things from me:

- Way back in July (but forgot to post it here at the time) I travelled in a new livery Abelio Greater Anglia train for the first time. I've been in a few with redone interiors but this was the first (and, thus far, only) time I'd encountered a new exterior. It was very Virgin-early-2000s with its doors painted with a diagonal effect and silver carriages.

I think you might be talking about the train affectionately (?) known as the Pretendolino, which Virgin Trains West Coast used after a derailment meant that they lost one of their Pendolino trains, so they had to use a Class 90 with coaching stock. As it a result it has a red Virgin interior and received the standard Virgin livery. However, Virgin stopped requiring it so I think Greater Anglia picked it up and it's now in service with them. It hasn't received the new livery (which as far as I can tell is white with red doors and nothing more exciting), which is why it still has striped doors and is silver. As a result I don't think Greater Anglia have had anything to do with the interior or exterior, but I'm sure they'll happily take the credit!

If we are on about a same thing this video shows it:

They haven't even tried!