Gatwick Express luxury fleet in line for rebrand

A change in name or identity for the Gatwick Express as part of the line’s plan to bring in high specification rolling stock is now “almost a certainty”, says Gatwick Express commercial director Derek Brickell.

The company has a preferred bidder for the production of the luxury fleet, to be in operation in 1999, and an announcement will be made in the next couple of weeks. Jones Garrard is a member of the consortia tendering for the project.

“This is an ideal time to go through a rebranding exercise,” says Brickell. “The new trains will be ‘sexy’ with a non-standard nose”, he adds.

Gatwick Express owner National Express has set up a central organisational division for its five rail interests which may take control of branding and other design issues. “We’re now seeing how we will move the group forward, and where the synergies are,” says Brickell.

Meanwhile, the introduction of a rail sleeper service from UK cities to the Continent has had teething problems and been put on hold after the manufacturer, GEC Alsthom Metro Cammell, dropped the designers and took the project in-house.

Jones Garrard and Tilney Lumsden Shane stopped working for the train manufacturer after creating the concept design, says Mike Muldoon, manager of Jones Garrard’s transport design group.

European Night Services, a subsidiary of Eurostar UK, is currently testing the trains on the Continent. The service was due to start operating last spring (DW 12 May 1995).

In light of the delay, Lloyd Northover Citigate’s brand name for the service has not been revealed. The group also designed the European Night Services identity and is working on a major assignment for Railtrack.