Tag Archives: British Rail

British Rail’s corporate identity, 50 years on

Posted on by
1

I’ve been thinking about corporate identity recently, following PayPal’s brand identity refresh. (Every organisation needs to update its look every now and again.) It’s exactly 50 years since the conception of one of Britain’s most far reaching and longest lasting brand identities: British Rail.

The new face of British Rail

The new face of British Rail

Back in 1964, Britain’s railways were changing. The traditional steam railway was being replaced by a new age of diesel and electric trains. British Railways wanted to create a clean, consistent, modern identity across its trains, stations and even ships. The new identity still looks modern half a century later, and the famous BR symbol is still with us almost 20 years after BR itself disappeared. (You don’t hear it called the arrow of indecision these days.)

Southern Railway S15 Barry scrapyard

Southern Railway and BR identities, Barry scrapyard 1982

The new BR identity scrapped the mock heraldic logos that it had used for its first 16 years – no longer would British trains feature lions. It even appeared on BR’s narrow gauge Vale of Rheidol steam engines well into the 1980s.

British Rail Sealink identity

British Rail’s identity goes to sea

Back in 1964, British Railways was much more than a railway. It ran hotels, cross channel ferries and the new identity applied across land and sea. The shortened name, British Rail, was quickly adopted although the longer title remained the official name to the very end under the British Railways Board, which was abolished in 2001.

Since Britain’s railways were privatised, our trains carry a bewildering array of liveries. The one unifying element is the famous 1964 arrow.

British Rail symbol

British Rail arrows

Note: thanks to Nick Job’s website  www.doublearrow.co.uk for much background on the BR corporate identity, including pages from the original BR identity manuals. See also the late Brian Haresnape’s British Rail 1948 – 1978, a journey by design.

West Coast: what a way to run a railway

Posted on by
2

Once upon a time, Britain’s railways were owned by us. British Railways weren’t perfect, but by the late 1980s the service was rather good. New trains were being introduced, and the taxpayer got rather a good deal: BR was one of most efficient, and least subsidised, railway networks in the world. Clever marketing attracted millions more passengers – under the slogan The Age of the Train. (Although the choice of Jimmy Savile may not seem so wise today…) And even the much maligned sandwich was transformed by 1993.

Then political dogma intervened and John Major privatised the lot, even though respected Tory MP and rail expert Robert Adley warned the sell-off would be a poll tax on wheels. Major wanted a return to the ‘big four’ railways but we got First Great Western not the Great Western Railway. The result: a privately owned railway that is hugely more subsidised than when it was state owned, and a bureaucracy that defies belief.

Today, the flaws in that system were shockingly exposed when the Government was humiliated by being forced to scrap the award of the West Coast main line franchise to First Group. Amazingly, the Department of Transport got its sums wrong, which meant incumbent Virgin lost to First Group’s extravagantly optimistic bid, as Robert Peston explained in his blog.

Transport expert Christian Wolmar described rail privatisation in his book On the wrong line as “A malicious attack on an industry the Tories disked, with calamitous results”. (Labour hardly improved things in its 13 years in power.) Today, he commented:

“Civil servants come and go, and are deliberately trained to be generalists, while the railways need specialists. They also need stability rather than ministers who come and go at the whim of the Prime Minister. It is all too obvious that the way that the Department has been treated as a dumping ground for ministers on the way up or down is also part of the problem.”

Some of the private rail companies have done a good job, including our local line, Chiltern Railways. But Chiltern had a flying start because British Rail transformed every aspect of the line 20 years ago: new track, signalling and trains.

Three civil servants have been suspended because of the West Coast scandal. But no politician will lose their job. No politician will resign. They never do.

PS: BR was a pioneer of modern corporate identity. Its 1965 logo remains as relevant, modern and recognisable 47 years on, acting as a beacon in a fragmented, muddled rail network. Strange to think we still had steam hauled intercity express trains when it first appeared.