Rail Alphabet was the answer to these challenges. Meanwhile, a condensed narrow rectangular font served for train numbers on many locomotives. This bossy and sometimes difficult typeface seemed increasingly out of place in the more informal s, as longstanding social norms were challenged or abandoned.

Most frequently seen was Gill Sans, a chilly all-upper case typeface dating from before the second world war and inherited from the London and North Eastern Railway read more about it here. It was designed to wipe out the existing hotchpotch of styles and motifs which had graphically illustrated the confused nature of the business from its creation in until that point.īritish Railways as it was publicly known until even had multiple typefaces in use on its signage and its trains. It was called Rail Alphabet and it has subsequently proved to be the most successful and long-lasting element of the corporate identity.

When British Rail unveiled its comprehensive corporate identity inone of the key elements which made it work was a new typeface.

Rail Alphabet Font