New Branding

[RW]

So what do we think of the new purple/orange livery to be applied in the near future to units operating 'local' services under the name West Midlands Railway as required by the terms of the new WM franchise formerly operated by London Midland. Certainly different. Not sure how 'local' is defined. Only those services operating wholly within the West Midlands region or will London and Liverpool get a sighting of the new livery?

[Roy]

The next West Midlands franchise will be split into two business units - West Midlands and West Coast - and each business unit will have its own rolling stock and livery.  The West Midlands business unit vehicles will have a purple and orange livery applied to match the new West Midlands Railway logo although it may not be the same as the artist's impression pictured in Modern Railways as the two bidders will be allowed to submit their own designs based on these colours. 

On the map for the new franchise, services to London and Liverpool are part of the West Coast business unit, so I wouldn't expect to see purple and orange units on these services under normal circumstances.  However, the new services to Crewe via Stoke will be part of the West Midlands business unit, so purple and orange vehicles will get as far as Crewe.  The map showing the business units can be found at http://www.westmidlandsrail.com/media/2782/wmr-map.png. 

Personally, I do not like the new colour scheme as depicted in the artist's impression, but it might look better when the two bidders have got their designers to work on it.  It will be interesting to see what the final livery looks like.

[YN64AOG]

What does it look like?

[Roy]

What does it look like?

I've attached the front cover of the Stourbridge Line User Group newsletter which shows an artist's impression of the new livery.  The purple, orange and grey colour scheme is fixed to match the "West Midlands Railway" logo but the successful bidder will be able to submit their own design.

[YN64AOG]

I really like it!