Virgin Trains East Coast debranding

This video was a bit of fun for April fools 2018, but it's almost come true! Follow @SaveECRewards on Twitter - despite our name we also look at other aspects of the East Coast rail service.
Virgin Trains East Coast have been stripped of their franchise and the last Virgin Trains East Coast service will operate on 23rd June with LNER taking over operations on the 24th.
Don't worry, timetables will stay the same and any tickets you have will still be valid even if they say VTEC only on them.
Many of us think standards have dropped significantly since 2017, our review of the 3rd year is here: saveecrewards.co.uk/vtec-at-t...
We have been talking to many on-board staff and they say that morale is at an all time low. They do their best to deliver excellent service but feel unappreciated by management. All the on-board staff we've talked to so far are delighted with this news.
Our April fool said "we can now reveal that East Coast will be taken back into public ownership on the 20th May when the summer timetable comes into operation" but soon we will find out what the future of the East Coast franchise will be.
So we were wrong about the date: 24 June rather than 20 May, but the franchise is going to be taken back into public ownership temporarily. The brand will be LNER rather than East Coast.
Credits:
Video footage: East Coast Main Line Company Ltd
Image of HST at the end: mattbuck on Wikipedia under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported licence

[@harryscorah2091]

It took me WAY to long to realise this was in reverse

[@gregrichards3444]

same

[@pektapol5022]

same

[@bagelcrisp]

Same xD

[@brawlstarsmomentsandvideos6530]

Same

[@mrquickogaming]

Same

[@hanskniezand2049]

I didn't see them debrand the drinks trolleys. The last time I traveled on the ECML they still had GNER tags on them!

[@brawlstarsmomentsandvideos6530]

I haven’t actually been on a lner or virgin but I have been on a grand central to London so kinda ecml

[@73APhotography]

This is a good example of a video in reverse, congrats

[@SaveEastCoastRewards]

The person who made the original spotted it the first day 😀

[@RegiRaidillonVT]

How delightful 😒

[@railsofeastanglia5017]

mad beef

[@brawlstarsmomentsandvideos6530]

@@SaveEastCoastRewards wats the actual music pls?

[@fightforfreedom5292]

I didn’t realise it was in reverse lol.

[@InTheBeginningTheUniverseWas]

1:48 scraping up the glue and putting it back it in a container, very resourceful indeed! use it again later....

[@Cpr1234]

virgin trains west coast today be like: 0:00 - 3:31

[@uniteduktrains5888]

I miss the old East Coast livery. It was simple but modern.

[@jonkf7548]

Not gonna lie, watching this video in light of recent news messed with my mind until I realised it was a reversed video, not a regular timelapse.

[@bizzlemedia]

A joyous moment - thanks for sharing!

[@brickleyyard4966]

Let me ages to realise that this video is in reverse so crazy I did realise that excellent work quality video love it

[@GraingerElectrical]

Looks like the good old Intercity days are returning. This is #returnofbritishrail. Good video!

[@stephenhardy8604]

Will miss the old HST's. They were lovely and comfortable to travel on.

[@TheMetrobusEnthusiast]

I quite agree, an I've only been on one once! Lovely and spacious compared to my journey on a class 91 and 221 that same holiday

[@Samsavation]

I loved going on them from Sheffield to london I would not ever get standard class on HST’s

[@DeanPark]

And look what happened....they got stripped of their franchine just weeks after lol.

[@tgm9991]

Robert Comer are you for real look at the roads, schools, emergency services, military and anything else that's in public ownership and it's a fucking shambles the government will strip the railway down to a shell of what it is now if they get there filthy hands on it.

[@johnmccallum8512]

Does no one here remember the shambles that was BR cap in hand to the Treasury for just about every thing and the answer was generally NO

[@Ben31337l]

Yeah, British Rail was short for cash even before privatization. They were stuck between public impression and the government's stringent funds relying heavily on their cheap ticket prices and high-value freight for profit. Not to mention the fact that MANY of their prototypes (Mainly type 1, type 2, type 3 and type 4 diesels) were rushed through development leading to many of them being failures (overheating, engine problems underpowered etc...).

[@DeanPark]

After this video was uploaded!!

[@timhuggins1993]

Still in the model railway world perhaps a delight to the struggling cash cow that is hornby, as its new reason to bring out another HST set with the new livery and charge even more higher costs ?! Lol. Bring back B.R

[@armanicrompton787]

2:32 did anyone notice the self retracting tape?😂

[@1BarnetTE.]

I did lmao

[@brawlstarsmomentsandvideos6530]

Oh ya!

[@MalcolmCrabbe]

" but how would you feel if it was true?" - Seems you have a talent to predict the future :-)

[@fightforfreedom5292]

It’s a pity that virgin have lost so many of their franchises, they were a great train company.

[@sprinterofficial8457]

they were, but the ECML is a really hard franchise to make a prophit off of, thats why GNER, NXEC and Virgin lost the franchise. East Coast and LNER are government owned

[@timothyleberl6617]

Whoever picked the music choice made the right decision. The music is top class!

[@uwlodar]

If only East Coast had remained. Virgin to their credit did make an effort to re-livery all their trains (unlike SWR), but the livery and the interiors were garish, just like the rest of the company. It’ll be nice ti see some prestige return to the ECML. Hopefully the new LNER livery is as classy as the name and logo

[@gregsd]

Virgin Cross Country's livery was ok. GNER's was lush. Here's to hoping LNER will be of the same calibre than GNER and GWR.

[@uwlodar]

Theres one image of a potential LNER livery on the front of an 800, but it only shows the front. From that image tho, the front looks classy

[@PinkThorn242]

...SWR is re-painting all their trains though.

[@uwlodar]

PinkThornVlogs yeh but its taken them a really long time, and they didn’t exactly start right away

[@soundseeker63]

Agreed GNER and the new GWR are both fine examples, elegant and understated. Great central is nice too. Hopefully we will get something comparable. Never liked the VTEC livery, looked garish and cheap to me.

[@arrycklavery9842]

I thought this was virgin-lner and I'm sitting here wondering why the seats are being changed when they're the exact fucking same 😭😭

[@brannocstevenson6971]

This video makes me smile,, a lot

[@williamjohnson7699]

ay nice to see the good old grey and purple livery

[@OwenConcorde]

Even though this was played in reverse, at least the cancer’s gone and I cannot wait to see the new LNER livery once it comes out!

[@AliGroves450]

Fancy Seeing You Here LOL BTW Yeah Its Sad Virgin Has Gone + The Fact That There West Coast One Went To Trenitallia And First Also I Really Hope SWR Gets Nationalized Beacuse Its A Nightmare I Hate My Local Train + I Think Ive Ranted It On Discord

[@Cpr1234]

here's a funny coincidence: the loco pic at the end is one of the two locomotives featured at the end of the original video (43251)

[@trainspotting8012]

Awesome there guys well done

[@10reubenl]

Haha I like how you just did the video in reverse.

[@brnesouthwest9915]

Return of the teak coach and the HST power cars and those used on the Aberdeen route being done in Darlington green and the Leeds sets being done in Doncaster Green or straight Silver livery, hmm food for thought.

[@charonsferryold]

The LNER is returning? Owned by the public? It's a dream come true!

[@katz_dezz5929]

Lol 😂 this actually happened a few months later LNER IS BACK!!!!

[@nothisispatrick5725]

Im happy to see vtec go

[@fluggaenkoecchicebolsen]

That must have annoyed them having only put the Virgin branding on a week before

[@mercluca]

Yep, definitely going to scrape on a East Coast Logo.. Brandson must have a magical scrapping tool that pastes logos out of fin air 🤷🏻‍♂️😂

[@SaveEastCoastRewards]

Did you see the magical paintbrush too? I wish peeling the vinyl off was also as easy as this! 😁

[@mercluca]

Save East Coast Rewards indeed I did 😂 There’s gonna be another one of these for June 24th when LNER returns.. ah back to the glory days 😍

[@tob19]

New livery for east coast today, *n i c e j o b t e a m*

[@petercdowney]

Perhaps I should be running these railways. Which name do you think sounds better: Peter East Coast, or Peter North Eastern?

[@EinChris75]

It took a while till I got it... I was wondering, why do the put anything under the carpet before removing it. But then I saw the paint on the engine.

[@MrGriser]

I've heard this music before in the Virgin East Coast refurbishment video.

[@darrenduffy1227]

This is the same video but in reverse

[@luke_miint]

Does anyone know where I can find the original version of this?

[@terrier_productions]

Luke Prest here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jnTYd52pfb-pgq8

[@bagelcrisp]

@@terrier_productions You rickrolled meee

[@terrier_productions]

BagelCrisp sorry meant this link: kzbin.info/www/bejne/nHSaoIiFiqp4n5Y

[@MePeterNicholls]

Prophetic

[@adriyanangelov7099]

what is the music called

[@bowlerstuff9589]

Happy virgin fools day 2018 considering I'm 2 months late saying this

[@transitkidjasonproductions]

This is music in ears I’m in Vancouver

[@LadOfTheNight]

Wow those guys haven't aged a day!

[@JackTheOfficeWorker]

Guys? Is the East Coast HST Still in

[@NiallMS1]

So how much did Branson make out of the changeover?!!

[@lisamiles1157]

What music is this?

[@MrJezza31]

If only... Those GNER Mallard Interiors were so much better!

[@paulnash2115]

This video is the reverse of the Rebranding

[@guitarplayerforu]

The whole of our railway system here in the UK needs some significant changes. I see Northern has cancelled loads of services for us up in the northwest, not good. We need hyperloops rather than train's, ones that do 700mph.

[@routeman680]

I felt it was at its best when GNER had the franchise. Never really found out why they lost it/gave it up.

[@SaveEastCoastRewards]

GNER was the best and they were the only private company on the East Coast mainline franchise to last a full franchise term (1996-2005), but a number of things caused their collapse during their second franchise. They bid high, but perhaps could have managed if their parent company (Sea Containers) was on the verge of collapse. We then had National Express give it a shot, that wasn't a particularly good time. Hopefully LNER will add a bit of style like GNER did

[@ashtonharris9325]

Hmmm you missed out that they helped other companies buy giving them large sums of money

[@transportenthusiast11]

@@SaveEastCoastRewards You say that, then the Azumas came. (Which I acknowledge was brought in with Virgin)

[@spatt1997]

And now it’s true!

[@AshleyRyan15]

2:32 the tape

[@scottishtrainspotter7209]

that was a great April fools prank for 2018

[@mohanlehto9101]

What is the name of the song

[@xanthefredgraves1826]

They just played the vedio in reverce I realised it the first time I watched it

[@richardtalbot8769]

I wish England was a bit more like Scotland - scotrail branding stays the same whichever company operates it.

[@SaveEastCoastRewards]

I believe that's what they're planning with LNER, they want whoever takes over the franchise in the future to keep the brand.

[@CityAnimate]

what happened to the original video cant find it

[@charliestransportvids]

Screen record this video and then reverse it

[@ryangordon3011]

You forget to put the National Express East Coast Into The Ratings

[@SaveEastCoastRewards]

I'm used to Twitter where there's a limit to 4 (turns out KZbin has a limit of 5 options, just checked, so I know for next time). I picked the ones that I thought would be the most popular.

[@ianshort2935]

Not even April Fools lol

[@trainspotting4401]

What happens when virgin finally lose their fleet ps IN JUNE

[@ThomasWhiteford]

Like how you've reversed it lol

[@gamecentrehd2552]

haha lol im going to edinburgh on the 24th xD xD xD with LNER

[@brawlstarsmomentsandvideos6530]

I like east coast’s curtains and blue seats 💺

[@RicardoD957]

Irony being that this is actually gonna happen now. LONG LIVE THE L.N.E.R

[@stpancrasinternationalstat1184]

Is Virgin Trains still staying or are they filing administration??

[@SaveEastCoastRewards]

Virgin Trains (west coast) are carrying on as normal. Virgin Trains East Coast is a different company so the closure of their franchise won't affect the west coast route.

[@tibbers3755]

The hell are you guys mad about your railways? Its still better than ours

[@darrenduffy1227]

It's a Pretendolino!

[@tinypizza4278]

So I'm going to be on one of the last Virgin then when go to London on 22nd June

[@Cpr1234]

Today is the 22nd June. Hope you are enjoyed London!

[@chilterntrainspotter8487]

Nice.

[@jamesmcphearson665]

Make it happen!

[@kajakkille]

Azuma? Nozuma....

[@donttalktomewithnofood8404]

Got the date wrong

[@jacksugden8190]

Reflected in higher fares.

[@Possiblyqiqi]

But do the trains still have the VTEC Brand, my planned trip on the line is on the 23rd

[@SaveEastCoastRewards]

They do currently but it's not clear whether the brand will start to be removed before the new franchise starts.When National Express took over from GNER they had all the GNER branding removed in the last week of GNER. If I find out more I will post the info to Twitter

[@SaveEastCoastRewards]

I'm pretty sure Virgin will want their name gone from the side of the trains as soon as the franchise ends, after all they charge companies quite a lot for the right to licence the Virgin name. The LNER website is using the same shade of red as Virgin use so it might be a case of just sticking LNER over the Virgin logos. We won't know for sure nearer the time. Things like uniforms will probably remain the Virgin ones to begin with, not sure the plan for the headrests in first class as they're attached to the seat.

[@SaveEastCoastRewards]

Apparently the franchise agreement does state that VTEC would have to cover the costs of removing their branding making the fleet fit to be passed to a new operator. That was for when the franchise came to a natural end, not sure if it applies now it's been terminated. If it does I imagine they might ask them to cover the costs for removing the branding from the headrests. Replacing the seats like in the video wouldn't happen

[@dodge2322]

Where’s the original to this

[@tou7331]

Here after its was announced itll be nationalised...

[@JamesTecho]

This aged well…

[@mercury7590]

Well then. The LNER returns after 50 years.

[@CoastwayWill]

I tried putting paint back in a bucket but it didn't work!

[@SaveEastCoastRewards]

Only works on 1st April

[@soundseeker63]

Here's hoping the new LNER scheme will be classier than the VTEC scheme.....I never liked that bright red all over the interior and the livery looked a bit cheap imo. GNER did a good job with things for 10 years, NX and VTEC both lasted less than 3. Let's hope this silliness comes to an end under LNER!

[@SaveEastCoastRewards]

Despite the video getting everyone's hopes up I doubt the interior will change as it's still new and the trains will start being phased out next year. Did you see the video I posted on Thursday where the CEO of Stagecoach admits they realised they made a mistake within a few weeks of the franchise starting.

[@maldeano65]

24th June start under LNER branding under goverment control

[@mikechick221]

i just thing old British rail coolers and keep in state owner ship

[@douglassmith6109]

Why back to east coast trains?.

[@RJA10001]

(not american, nor a train person) I thought they were actually debranding the train, I then saw a roll of tape stuck to the side of the train rolling upwards, and the windows being painted strangely. Then I read the description and it all made sense :)

[@SaveEastCoastRewards]

Never noticed the tape before, that gave me another laugh watching the video 😀

[@frenchsteam7356]

garter blue for locos -green and cream for coaches [!!!]

[@ludwigtails]

XD wow just reverse wow XD

[@richardbinnie]

I see what you did there.

[@shopdog831]

It's a shame that virgin air is going under as Well. they had good service

[@davidhallowell3464]

They're not going under. Virgin Atlantic will still exist it's just Branson has sold a share of it to Air France-KLM, Delta already had 49%. Many Virgin companies just licence the name and have nothing to do with Branson

[@paxvictori2385]

Renationalizing britians railways

[@manchestercaptures]

Nope we’ll have what we had before

[@redstonerelic]

NGL thought this was about brightline lol

[@aaronarshad3687]

It's a shame though . VTEC Livery looks best on the 43 hst I hope LNER livery is decent enough

[@aaronarshad3687]

Toby Jackson thanks man I was just curious to see the Liver of what it would look like but even if it is branding u think it's ok then

[@aaronarshad3687]

Well I suppose u r right because the current rolling stock r due to be replaced soon enough anyway

[@user-pv9kg9ou1l]

Look at all that filler in the front of the HST

[@silljoey2911]

Virgin desintegrates but it's trains

[@dansmith4601]

Big waste of money as virgin were only awarded the contract recently. Should have kept the livery

[@SaveEastCoastRewards]

It's ok, it's an April fools done before all this was announced, it never really happened 😀 It's just when the news that Virgin Trains East Coast was going to be no more this video jumped in popularity. I think LNER will keep most of the livery and I'm sure the seats will remain the same (minus the Virgin headrests in first class)

[@GaryNumeroUno]

I prefer the Virgin livery... the new one looks like a glorified bus paint scheme.

[@SaveEastCoastRewards]

Read the description, this was an April fools joke, the video is played backwards so what you see is the old East Coast livery. It's LNER taking over from VTEC and we don't know how they'll look

[@GaryNumeroUno]

Ahhh... nice one... Good work. Interesting video. Cheers

[@Ben-pv9pm]

LOL

[@unknownartist7204]

Nooo i never got to travel under that brand

[@SaveEastCoastRewards]

Still got a few weeks

[@unknownartist7204]

Save East Coast Rewards hopefully enough time to buck up a journey

[@StaxRail]

The issue with the ECML all boils down to the operator. When GNER were running it it went well until the fat cats got greedy. Slapping the LNER name into a service for nostalgia doesn't stop greed but Chris Grayling still did it. I don't even know if he has ever driven a train!

[@SaveEastCoastRewards]

True, a nostalgic name doesn't mean a good service. But I'm hoping a change of leadership and discarding the Virgin baggage will at least put the operator on the right track.

[@StaxRail]

Save East Coast Rewards I agree. It was about time for a change. I reckon that the next major franchise change will be on the Great Western lines. Their lease ends in 2025 and I don't think First will keep it due to a number of reasons.

[@N1UP3N]

I just realised it was reversed

[@kevinhoward9593]

This is why you don't put a logo on 90% of the things in the train. So who took over the ex-Virgin Rail lines?

[@SaveEastCoastRewards]

Kevin Howard it’s being taken over by the government (at least for a short while) although they’re going to use the LNER brand rather than East Coast

[@fdama]

So this where all the rail money is going. Branding, de-branding,re-branding, etc. God, I love the privatised rail system.

[@SaveEastCoastRewards]

Read the description, this one is a joke, it was originally a video of the Virgin branding being applied but played backwards. It's not clear what rebranding will be done by LNER when they take over on 24 June

[@allaboard7360]

And it is actually going to happen

[@SaveEastCoastRewards]

Turns out it'll be less of a change than we expected. We found out on Wednesday that most of the management team (including MD David Horne) plan to stay on with the new company.

[@allaboard7360]

What is the music on the video

[@SaveEastCoastRewards]

I'd love to know myself. It was used on the VTEC original of this video, so I kept it in.

[@allaboard7360]

Save East Coast Rewards i know it was on the original but its so god damn catchy

[@SaveEastCoastRewards]

I will try and find out, but the person who put the video together left VTEC and can't remember the music.