How does Regional Railways fit into B.R.?
This is a service that is part of British Rail as a whole.
As you will see from the new Regional Railways logotype, endorsed as it is by the British Rail symbol, this is a service that is part of British Rail as a whole. A major part.
This is the reason why you will find that some of the elements of your new corporate identity are the same as those on Intercity and Network SouthEast. The signing system continues to use Rail Alphabet. The Helvetica typeface continues on all material that provides the customer with information about the how, why and where of getting from A to B.
There are two reasons for this. The first is that we believe these particular elements do their job so well that neither we, nor any other rail network anywhere else in the world, has been able to improve upon them. The second is that the customer who buys rail travel wants to be able to move throughout the British network of railways without effort.
They might start their journey on Regional Railways, continue on Intercity and end the journey on Network SouthEast. So on the one hand, each of these businesses needs to be instantly recognisable; on the other, the customer needs clear and unambiguous directions so as to be able to move fluently from one to the next.
A universal, readily recognisable and uncluttered information system does more to smooth the customer’s path than anything else.