Proposed new logo revealed for UK Government-owned body that will oversee rail infrastructure in Wales
A proposed new logo has been revealed for Great British Railways, the UK Government-owned body that will oversee rail transport in Great Britain from next year.
The body that will replace Network Rail will be made up of five ‘regional’ divisions, including a Wales and Western region.
The new logo was filed on 11 January 2022, according to the UK Government’s Intellectual Property Office. It has not yet been officially registered.
Great British Railways will oversee rail transport across Britain from 2023. Mainline train routes in Wales, but not some south Wales valleys Transport for Wales routes, will come under the control of the new body.
Rail infrastructure is currently not devolved to Wales, but the Welsh Government does have powers over awarding contracts and setting fares on services. Transport for Wales will still be the rail operator in Wales, overseen by Welsh Government.
The UK Government described the new Great British Railways body as “a single guiding mind that ends the fragmentation of the rail industry and drives benefits and improvements across the network for passengers and freight customers”.
The proposed new logo for Great British Railways looks eye-bleedingly awful https://t.co/5hl5qySL30 pic.twitter.com/gPyN5XZOXD
— Chris Applegate (@chrisapplegate) February 10, 2022
Five days ago the UK Government launched a competition to find a HQ for the company, with towns and cities across Wales, England and Scotland invited to apply.
The Great British Railways transition team will shortlist the best applications in May, after which a public vote will help determine the winning location.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Our railways have kept this country moving for almost 200 years, but it’s time to kickstart a new age that will shape our network for the next 200.
“I’m calling on people across the country to make the case for why the true home of the railways is on your doorstep.”
‘Loses out’
Earlier this month Mark Drakeford slammed the UK Government’s “neglect” of rail infrastructure in Wales as “pathetic”.
The First Minister said that Wales was not treated fairly by the UK Government and added that calling HS2 an England and Wales project was “absolutely nonsensical”.
He was responding to a question in the Senedd by Labour MS Carolyn Thomas who asked what Wales’ could do to claim its £5bn share of investment it would be entitled to if HS2 was classified as an England-only project.
“Wales is treated anything but fairly when it comes to rail investment by the UK Government,” Mark Drakeford responded, adding that “Wales loses out on billions of pounds’ worth of investment.
“It is nonsensical—absolutely nonsensical—to claim that, because there is a new service from London to Birmingham, somehow that means Wales has had its fair share of that investment.
“Scotland, where comparability is conceded, will have £10 billion to invest in rail infrastructure in Scotland, every penny of which is being denied here to Wales.
“And all of that comes on top of a decade of neglect of investment in the infrastructure here in Wales.”
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We’re being trolled, aren’t We?
A revamp of the ‘butchers apron’! They do love their ‘Jac yr Undeb’ despite its bloody association across the world.
David Lloyd George was a brilliant leader and led us to victory. Is that controversial statement?
May have missed something but I’m uncertain how David Lloyd George came into this discussion. Although not a fan of DLlG, I do not think I said anything controversial about him on this occcasion!
If you’re going to troll then your credibility might be greater if you actually spelled the place name correctly and got the mutation right, in addition to making your comment even halfway pertinent.
D Ll G didn’t lead ‘us’ to victory, but did sign the Armistice on behalf of the British Empire in June 1919. The past was a very different place, and the people very different.
TfW will still be the main operator of trains in Wales after the formation of GBR. GBR will just be taking over the running of the rail infrastructure in Wales from Network Rail. TfW will still be operating the trains across Wales, overseen by Welsh Govt. This needs clarifying in the article.
Will the trains be wearing butcher’s aprons ?
No doubt Jimmy Saville would have approved of it.
He probably designed it with Thatcher
Looks very much like a fascist logo from the 1930s. More Whitehall BritNat bashing of Wales.
What do you get if you cross a union jack with a swastika
Perhaps we can expect a rendition of the Horst Wessel on the train tannoy as it pulls out of Euston or Paddington towards the Western Sudetenland
How very subtle – not ! No doubt we’ll get to see more of this type of b0llox as the daft boy’s muscular unionism gets a bigger budget
“Network Rail will be made up of five ‘regional’ divisions, including a Wales and Western region.”
The worthless tory scum don’t even have the decency to give Wales its own division. Their utter contempt for us knows no bounds.
Quote “The UK Government described the new body as “a single guiding mind that ends the fragmentation of the rail industry and drives benefits and improvements across the network for passengers and freight customers”.”
So the conservative’s ideological experiment of privatising public services to reduce costs and provide better services has failed utterly. But they are only partially nationalising it, along the new model of privatisation where there is a public veneer of public ownership while they contract out the provision. The same model of privatisation that they are currently employing in the NHS.
Gareth is right it won’t make any difference because TfW are still running the trains and what a hopeless mess they (the state-owned company) have made of it. Cancellations and lates on the Heart of Wales line have now passed 40% which, when you have only 4 trains in each direction makes a nonsense of having a service at all. No trains at all tomorrow because they’ve been pinched to prop up the Cardiff area and the valleys. What good is that for rural Rugby fans from places like Llandovery who want to have a good day out and no… Read more »
Trains are running tomorrow on the Heart of Wales line so if you are a rugby fan in Llandovery Mr McIntyre you can let the state-owned TfW run train take the strain and attend the match and drink.
This might be good news to you or an inconvenient fact.
The line is however closed on Sunday the 13th February for maintenance.
Demand for green spray paint is soaring.
Who are you kidding only yourselves
This is an English flag rebranded in a slightly different shapes it has nothing to do with Wales Scotland Northern Ireland let alone what you mean regarding The ?UK. Britain the British Isles
Great Britain or other phrases meaning England
A mangled butcher’s apron
If i ever advertise for a graphic designer for my company will that ‘designer’ please not apply it awful design on every level
I was never a green paint vigilante but this p**s take is making me feel I should have been.
Truly embarrassing
Reminds me of SS runes and the butchers apron, typical right wing fascistic symbolism, if that’s the intention then they’ve hit the mark.
Calm down, don’t go into meltdown! Put your glasses on and take another look. You’ll see that it’s actually a rather amateurish rehash of the British Rail logo originally designed in 1964 https://www.creativereview.co.uk/british-rail-logo/
Granted, it does look a mess, and rather spoils what wasa nice clean, simple logo.
However, it’s high time the railways in Wales were handed over to Welsh Government control and Senedd oversight in their entirety.