(no subject)

[enteirah]

Not sure where they dug this Crosscounty gripper train manager out from, but he seems insistent on calling this the 'Arriva Trains' service. Even to the point of thanking everyone for travelling with Arriva Trains PLC. o.O

Comments

[patter-snowfox.livejournal.com]

Well, the current cross-country trains are run by Arriva Cross-Country. I'm sure the railwaytig will be able to quote chapter & verse :P

[enteirah]

Yeppers, I know Arriva run it, but they're also very keen on avoiding their name in the franchise at all costs, as Southie mentions. Perhaps this guy was on loan from Wales! =:P

[southpaw1805.livejournal.com]

He clearly doesn't want to keep his job for very long then.

The trading name for the franchise is CrossCountry, NOT Arriva CrossCountry, Arriva Trains CrossCountry, or anything else involving the "A" word.

In fact, use of the "A" word is banned throughout the company, particularly in their route Control office!

[enteirah]

Yeah, that was my main thought, as I know that corporate branding schemes tend to be pretty strict on these things. Of course it's understandable when the occasional misuse of an old name slips through when a company name has just changed, but to repeatedly use a name they've never had (without *any* mention of the word Crosscountry), then the sudden throwing in of the phrase 'Arriva Trains PLC' struck me as more than accidental. Perhaps he was already on his last day, and was on a bet. =:P

[loganberrybunny.livejournal.com]

In fact, use of the "A" word is banned throughout the company

Why is this? Continuity from Virgin XC, perhaps? It seems to go against the grain of what usually happens when one of the big companies takes over a franchise (cf National Express East Coast).

[enteirah]

Perhaps Arriva are just worried their brand has less value than the Virgin one to consumers trainwise. After all, Arriva Trains Wales and Arriva Trains Northern (from back in the day) are some of the less prestigious of the franchises. =;) It's like National Express went to great lengths to avoid mentioning their name in East Anglia originally, hiding behind 'one' all the time.

They're probably also being cautious in case they completely screw up the franchise, so as not to tarnish the corporate brand. Assuming they do manage it all successfully, I'd not be surprised if they shuffle their name back in in a few years (and naturally if they do mess it up, we'll never see the name =;))

[loganberrybunny.livejournal.com]

Could be, I suppose. Central Trains were a National Express company, and they didn't often make much of the fact, though they didn't entirely hide it IIRC. At least it made a refreshing change from First Great First Western First operated by First. =;)

[southpaw1805.livejournal.com]

Then of course there's the fun that was had at Cambridge station before National Express rebranded "one" as East Anglia:

Will the First train to London be first or will it be the "one" one? Or will the First train be second? ;)

And Central Trains was never an easy franchise to manage, as Stagecoach have discovered.

[loganberrybunny.livejournal.com]

Will the First train to London be first or will it be the "one" one?

It will be the first, 8.30 "one" one. The second, 8.31, one will be First, and will arrive second, 60 seconds later.