September - Intercity Railway Society

The first franchise operator under privatisation was Great North Eastern Railway (GNER) owned by
Sea Containers Ltd who took over in April 1996 and successfully had a franchise extension in 2003
and then a renewal in 2005. The renewal was originally intended to run until 2015 but with lower than
expected income and the parent company in severe financial trouble, the DoT gave notice to terminate
GNERs franchise from Dec 2006. Putting the politics and financial issues aside what GNER did do
was to continue the strong InterCity reputation built up by BR and enhance it with one of the best
corporate liveries and marketing strategies seen under privatisation. A dark blue livery was introduced
on all stock with a thin red waist high stripe, full length on coaches but only partly on HSTs, Cl.91s and
DVTS across the guards/luggage section. HSTs, Cl.91s and DVTS also carried large GNER letters
behind the cab doors with running numbers on the red stripe. The GNER letters were originally in
silver but latter changed to gold. The coaches carried GNER and numbers on the stripe and a crest
midway along each side below the stripe with the wording ‘The Route of the Flying Scotsman’. The
small numbers on the stripe were not very visible and not enthusiast friendly. The big downside of the
livery was that HST power car and Cl.91 nameplates were removed in favour of normal stick-on
lettering in line with the red stripe. Starting in 2003 all IC225 stock was upgraded to ‘Mallard’ standard.
Refurbishment of the HST sets was also started as part of the new franchise renewal, but not
completed. Towards the end of the franchise several HST power cars carried advertising for online
discounts, events or routes.
43008 showing the number position, Aberdeen, 15 March 2007
82217 with ‘Off to the Races’ advertising logo, Glasgow Central, 23 February 2007
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