New Deliveries / New Livery & Branding Discussion

[Stevo]

Article here about the new livery, people who designed it, and an impression of what a blue/cream version would look like
https://thebeautyoftransport.com/2017/08/16/crimson-tide-national-express-west-midlands-visual-identity-2015/

I completely agree with what Rideout thought and did - though he had only to read this forum to see many of us saying something similar. Tell you what - name one of the 2017 delivery after him!

[cardew]

Interesting article, although this paragraph "The interiors of the buses are just as important to passengers as the exteriors, if not more so. If you can tempt a non-user on board for the first time, there's no point in them being put off travelling by bus ever again because the interior is so far removed from their expectations of quality." makes the appalling state of the seats in some Volvo ALX - in which money has been invested on the exhaust and in some cases a repaint- even more surprising.

[JoNi]

I attempted to transfer to 4453 in Stoke Aldermoor from a 26 that went the wrong way. I spoke to a chap at the stop and asked him if the corporation bus had gone. "You mean the red one, yes mate!" Strange how Birmingham buses are red and Coventry are blue. Coventry adopted sky blue for signs using Council tax payers money after Conservatives won power !

[CL]

re: two tone blue (going to keep this opinion short and simple, mostly)

• it's the passengers' own fault for expecting amenities, on the basis of a different livery
• this was a mistake on NX's half; perhaps the new livery shouldn't have been introduced with WiFi; which is now what the two tone livery is associated with!

What I find doesn't help is 4836 being the only (mk2 E400) in the new livery. Surely that'll cause more confusion! I'd think it'd be wise to repaint the entire fleet into the new livery to allow customers to familiarise themselves with it, rather than having them associate the "all blue bus' with free wifi

[Tony]

It's nothing to do with the WiFi

[JoNi]

I blame Jimmy Hill......

[Kevin]

It's nothing to do with the WiFi

Pray tell, Mr Tony, what is it to do with then? Because the WiFi argument has been the only reason touted thus far with no word until now that it was wrong.

[Tony]

Pray tell, Mr Tony, what is it to do with then? Because the WiFi argument has been the only reason touted thus far with no word until now that it was wrong.

All will be revealed in a few weeks

[paulb1973]

All will be revealed in a few weeks

That sounds interesting. I've no idea what is happening - but has a livery modification/change been made?! Perhaps and this is pure speculation, the two-tone blue didn't have the required impact [or something like that].

[Lukeee]

That sounds interesting. I've no idea what is happening - but has a livery modification/change been made?! Perhaps and this is pure speculation, the two-tone blue didn't have the required impact [or something like that].

Maybe stagecoach are purchasing the Coventry operations  ;)

[winston]

Maybe stagecoach are purchasing the Coventry operations  ;)

If NX hadn't been installing the new ticketing equipment at Coventry first, I may have said there could be some mileage in NXC being disposed of, after all, it sounds like Hotel Hoppa is potentially being sold off by NX.

Hopefully, there has been a re-think with the shades of blue used, as they don't work with the gold strip / outlines and the NXC fleet names look lost in pale blue.

[DavieDD2]

There may be mileage in that yet even with the new ticket machines, Dundee don't carry NX fleetnames any more, maybe there's a bigger shake up on the way than any of us can imagine, we'll just have to wait and see. If NX do keep Coventry, here's a suggestion for your livery, it was completely ignored by the powers that be when Dundee got the hideous greens. https://www.flickr.com/photos/66812080@N03/16873870806/in/album-72157627606532614/

[winston]

There may be milage in that yet even with the new ticket machines, Dundee don't carry NX fleetnames any more, maybe there's a bigger shake up on the way than any of can imagine, we'll just have to wait and see. If NX do keep Coventry, here's a suggestion for your livery, it was completely ignored by the powers that be when Dundee got the hideous greens. https://www.flickr.com/photos/66812080@N03/16873870806/in/album-72157627606532614/

But Dundee has nearly half of it's fleet repainted in the new NX style two tone green c/w new NX style moquette. Where NXC only has 15 in new two tone blue from an allocation of 153, latest refurbs being repainted in old style blue/white

[JoNi]

There may be mileage in that yet even with the new ticket machines, Dundee don't carry NX fleetnames any more, maybe there's a bigger shake up on the way than any of us can imagine, we'll just have to wait and see. If NX do keep Coventry, here's a suggestion for your livery, it was completely ignored by the powers that be when Dundee got the hideous greens. https://www.flickr.com/photos/66812080@N03/16873870806/in/album-72157627606532614/

Could you get rid the rubbish on the upper deck windscreen too!

[don]

All will be revealed in a few weeks

I'd hazard a guess that, with around 60 vehicles due for withdrawal at Coventry in the next couple or 3 yrs, that some new vehicles may arrive - if they're going to tweak or change the Coventry livery, that's when it will happen.

I always thought the darker blue should be a little darker on the Coventry vehicles and the lining, fleet name and other external lettering gold. The Crimson version of the NX liveries looks excellent in my opinion, as I think does the Xplore Dundee version (sorry davieDD2 - I prefer it to your blue version - looks more classy to me!).

The current Coventry blue livery is reminiscent of mid 60s municipal fleet livery makeovers to make them more up to date, although I think they were all in straight lines as opposed to curves - in the 60s, modernity meant everything from buses to trains to cars to buildings was like this - I think it was Oldham which was featured in a Buses magazine before and after feature at the time - it used two tone blue albeit on a tin front Leyland Titan.... all that said, the Coventry livery is very striking when you first see it - maybe it doesn't wear too well in current form. They seem to be wedded to sky blue so presumably this will feature in some form or another if the livery changes.