Trainline tries to shake off ‘old fashioned’ image with rebrand

The website and app are also being revamped. The rebrand, designed by Studio Blackburn, has three main aspects. The brand has removed “the” and “.com”, simplifying the brand name.

It has also changed its colour to mint green and introduced a new more distinctive ‘t’, according to Trainline commercial director Simon Darling.

While the brand believes that its service is modern and intelligent, the look simply didn’t match.

“We have lots of mobile users and clearly being called the ‘Trainline.com’ isn’t suitable for the modern age. Also, we looked tired and old, as the colours and logo were old fashioned,” he said.

The rebrand will be supported by an integrated campaign, which is currently in production and aimed at building awareness. It will be launched on 5 September and run through the rest of the year on various channels, including social media and TV.

Mobile opportunities

The rebrand comes as the mobile app becomes a bigger focus for the brand.

“People carry their mobile phones on them more frequently, using our services at the station or on the train, while it used to be just computer-based. The opportunity simply wasn’t as big for us, but mobile is definitely growing dramatically,” he said.

And it’s not just bookings – Darling explained that people use the app for platform information, as well as finding out about train delays and finding the quickest alternative route.

New features have also been rolled out to improve the customer experience, including simplified payment processes. PayPal has also been added as a payment option.

“We have introduced the concept of smarter tickets. It’s solving a common problem, which is that customers who have bought a ticket don’t know what specific trains it will be valid for,” he said.

“If you now buy a ticket with us, the app will tell you the other trains that it’s valid on. We tend to introduce two or three new features like this every couple of months.”