The Beauty of Transport
banner
thebeautyoftransport.com
The Beauty of Transport
@thebeautyoftransport.com
Examples, opinions, thoughts, retweets of transport art/architecture/design/branding/logos/liveries/moquettes etc from The Beauty of Transport’s @danielhwright.bsky.social Long form articles at:
www.thebeautyoftransport.com
Reposted by The Beauty of Transport
There is a great blog by @thebeautyoftransport.com which looks in detail at transport design, including this post on Hackney Wick
Chemical Attraction (Hackney Wick station, London, UK)
It is hard to overstate the impact Hackney Wick station makes on a visitor, as well as the unexpectedness of it doing so. Reopened in 2018 after a complete rebuild, it is one of the most photogenic…
thebeautyoftransport.com
December 27, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Absolutely all this from @doublearrow64.bsky.social.

Two thoughts.

(1) What research showed RA2 needed 'improving' in this way, and can DfT prove the changes have achieved the desired effect?

(2) NR made a huge deal launching RA2. It is interesting that RA3 has been sneaked out without publicity.
I understand the point of adding a hook to the lower case ‘l’ but would love to know the rationale about making the leg of the R straight; I don’t think these minor changes to Rail Alphabet 2 certainly justify the existence of a new typeface called ‘Rail Alphabet 3’
December 23, 2025 at 3:46 PM
ICMYI - We're all (well, most of us) despairing over the recently revealed GBR branding, but how did we get here, and what is its future? The latest #TheBeautyOfTransport tries to unpick the story.
*Now with added 'what has happed to Rail Alphabet 2'?*
thebeautyoftransport.com/2025/12/22/u...
Union Flag Blues: the Branding of Great British Railways
In a blaze of publicity, the branding for Great British Railways, state-owned future operator of some of the privatised British railway network, was unexpectedly launched earlier this month, a mere…
thebeautyoftransport.com
December 23, 2025 at 10:03 AM
A good point well made - I had missed it amongst the other livery nonsense. Whatever the typeface of the GBR logotype is, it's not Rail Alphabet 2. What a wasted opportunity.
(Image source: www.gov.uk/guidance/gre...)
December 23, 2025 at 9:41 AM
#TheBeautyOfTransport is looking at the newly unveiled GBR branding - not just what it is, but how we ended up with it, and how far it will actually spread. It's a long article this time, so plenty to keep you going over the holidays. Season's Greetings!
Union Flag Blues: the Branding of Great British Railways
In a blaze of publicity, the branding for Great British Railways, state-owned future operator of some of the privatised British railway network, was unexpectedly launched earlier this month, a mere four years after Great British Railways was first announced. In typical British transport policy tradition, the government almost immediately undermined its own efforts to create a unifying visual identity for the English railway network, having long since ceded the battle to brand the British railway network.
thebeautyoftransport.com
December 22, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Good news (or bad, depending on your mileage) there is a new TheBeautyOfTransport.com article coming out later today (maybe good?), it's very long (possibly good, something to read over the festive break?) and it's about how GBR arrived at its recently unveiled branding (oh no).
December 22, 2025 at 11:47 AM
New on the Stations Heritage Artefacts website is @tarkaman.bsky.social's (thank you!) image of the plaque on the 10,000th ECML electrification mast, at Grantham (stationheritageartefacts.org.uk/artefacts-re...).
Contribute your own favourite artefacts: stationheritageartefacts.org.uk/join-in/
December 10, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Think we can safely say the Design Council isn’t a fan.
I see the founder of the Design Council has a favourable view of the new 'great british trains' livery. Oh, wait...
December 9, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Well done to those campaigners. Retention and refurb should be the order of the day for this rare transport building. Think of all the embedded carbon, for a start.
BREAKING NEWS: Sheringham Town Council have just voted 6-5 to withdraw support for the planned demolition of their now nationally famous Bus Shelter!

A crucial victory for the local protesters who’ve staged a remarkable 8 day occupation of the shelter.

People power for modern heritage ✊🏻
December 9, 2025 at 10:08 PM
Oh gawd, I suppose I'm obliged to have a take on the Great British Railways livery/branding unveiled today [image from the BBC news website]. Well then, here's a thread. First off, my hot take is that as usual I don't really have one. 1/9
December 9, 2025 at 11:11 AM
I slightly wonder if this wouldn’t be happening if it were a Victorian tram shelter. Saving Victorian architecture is now seen as ‘worthy’ but mid-20th C buildings don’t have the same value in some people’s eyes… 1/2
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Sheringham bus stop protest continues despite eviction notice - BBC News
Protesters are celebrating a "small victory" but the council says its eviction attempt is legal.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 5, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Yes, I have made another website, and this one is dedicated to heritage artefacts at mainline railway stations. You'll find it at... stationheritageartefacts.org.uk
December 3, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Announcing ‘A Mainline Station Heritage Artefacts Collection’

I have been thinking *a lot* about heritage artefacts at mainline railway stations over the last few years. They are so important in telling the story of the railway station at which they are located (and quite often the history of the…
Announcing ‘A Mainline Station Heritage Artefacts Collection’
I have been thinking *a lot* about heritage artefacts at mainline railway stations over the last few years. They are so important in telling the story of the railway station at which they are located (and quite often the history of the wider railway industry), yet frequently go unrecognised and unprotected. They are often very beautiful things in their own right, as well.
thebeautyoftransport.com
December 3, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Reposted by The Beauty of Transport
The new scalable British #NationalRail maps are live from today. Very clever idea in many ways, you zoom in or out for more or less detail. Have a play #rail, @transitmap.net and #map fans! railmap.nationalrail.co.uk#/mapview
November 28, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Just out of interest, what is the story behind the station signs at Enfield Chase? Are they unique?. Usual thing: the sooner RA2 signage is rolled out (properly!) across as much of the station estate as possible, the better.
October 22, 2025 at 9:18 AM
The @railwayheritage.bsky.social supported restoration of Richmond is as good as I could have hoped. For so long, Richmond has been Surbiton’s neglected sibling amongst J R Scott’s large London stations. Not any more.
Works by SWR and NR to a plan by Benedict O’Looney Architects. Fabulous.
October 16, 2025 at 4:54 PM
So… will I see it later when I’m at one of the London terminals? Hope so. Glad to hear it has the @doublearrow64.bsky.social seal of approval.
On my way back north after attending the unveiling of the new rail clock at London Bridge; the timepiece is all at once disarmingly simple and delightfully ingenious…
October 16, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Network Rail’s (and, one assumes, GBR’s) new standard station clock has been unveiled. Provided it’s installed in addition to heritage clocks at stations rather than accidentally replacing them, I’m all in. Very smart. www.creativeboom.com/news/design-...
Design Bridge and Partners unveil the first national railway timepiece in over 50 years
Created in collaboration with Network Rail, RIBA and the Design Museum, the striking new clock debuts at London Bridge station as a new icon of British design, blending heritage, accessibility and...
www.creativeboom.com
October 16, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Inspired by a recent @railwayheritage.bsky.social Advisory Panel meeting, I have visited the superbly restored LB&SCR tiled maps at London Victoria, supported by an RHT grant with work by Southeastern and Benedict O’Looney Architects. [1/4]
October 15, 2025 at 12:37 PM
On my occasional topic of caring for heritage artefacts/features at railway stations - I am not completely sure that the artist of the mural at Aberdeen really hoped that not one, but two fire exit signs would be glued onto it. Could this have been done better/more sensitively?
October 11, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Think this double arrow looks pretty good; opening plaque at Montrose station.
(cc @watfordgap.bsky.social @doublearrow64.bsky.social )
October 2, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Reposted by The Beauty of Transport
2 years ago I worked on a project to restore a 1920s WHS railway station bookstall. It was in pieces & in a bad state. A colleague & I found old photos of it in the WHS archive at @themerl.bsky.social which helped the restoration work. Look at it now👇 Full story www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
September 29, 2025 at 4:26 PM
I have (trepidatiously) accepted an invite from the nice people at the Sign Design Society to give a talk about the last 60 years of signage on the national rail network, and where we might go next. It’s on Oct 2nd online, non-SDS members can watch for a modest fee (£10 I think). bit.ly/SDS_Oct25
The Great British Railways signing challenge: 60 years of learning and unlearning – Sign Design Society
bit.ly
September 23, 2025 at 9:21 AM
If you have not seen the latest on the restoration of James Robb Scott’s Richmond station, watch this and swoon at the inter-war glamour. A great SWR - Network Rail - @railwayheritage.bsky.social project.
www.linkedin.com/posts/south-...
Richmond station restored to its Art Deco glory | South Western Railway
We've completed the restoration of Richmond's Art Deco station — bringing the 1937 gem back to life for today's customers to enjoy and providing a fitting gateway to the local area. From its stunning...
www.linkedin.com
September 16, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Hello @doublearrow64.bsky.social (or indeed other railway typeface-interested types), I know it's not really your preferred area of study, but do you know if there is a single source of info on the typefaces used by post-1994 train operating franchises esp for signage? I can't readily find one. 1/2
September 16, 2025 at 12:31 PM