Southeastern officially reveal Networker in Network SouthEast livery
Southeastern have officially revealed a Networker train in iconic “heritage” livery as part of the Railway 200 celebrations.
I’ve seen it referred to as a heritage livery which seems a stretch given it’s from the 1990s and lasted well into the 2000s. Though maybe I’m just old. I should add Southeastern aren’t calling it that.
Rather appropriately the train has been named after Chris Green who ran Network SouthEast when it was created in the late 1980s.
It’s not entirely a replica as there’s no white window frames and doors are grey due to accessibility rules but it’s mostly as was – and looking great.
Even as a child I recall the difference Network Southeast made from the late 1980s and early 1990s with formerly dour, drab and tired stations given a bright red lick of paint and general uplift while new Networker stock seemed a world away from the slam-door stock it replaced.
Stations like Abbey Wood were rebuilt with a bright, welcoming concourse and platform canopy.
That station is now gone but for a good cause – the Elizabeth line’s later arrival.
Woolwich Arsenal too saw a new station under Network Southeast which remains despite enlargement when the DLR later arrived.
Thinking back to the financial restraints of the late 1980s then early 1990s what they achieved was magnificent.
Long gone
However not much now remains of Network Southeast and those red benches and lighting columns once seen all across the area are long gone – mostly.
Stations and trains passed to Connex upon privatisation and then renationalised, then reprivatised under Govia and finally nationalised once more.
Throughout that time the original livery always suited the stock best.
Chris Green stated:
“I remain immensely proud of everything Network SouthEast accomplished and the foundations it built for today’s railway – particularly in and around south-east London and parts of Kent. We showed what can be achieved by working together across track and train and putting customers at the heart of our decision making.
“Today’s event was a wonderful reminder of that period of time and an opportunity to recognise the role the Networker fleet played in developing Network SouthEast, as well as the role the fleet continues to play across Southeastern today. I am grateful for today’s recognition and I look forward to more strides forward in the coming years, too.”
While this Networker is restored to original livery others are heading off to the scrapyard, with carriages moving across to Newport last week.
Sadly only the one train has been repainted but will be in use across the Southeastern network as well as for charity rail tours and other Railway 200 events.
And by the way those involved with setting up Great British Rail, if you want some good PR get more NSE branding and their philosophy embedded with whoever runs SE Metro in years to come.
NSE is what can be achieved when capable people are given autonomy. They worked wonders in constrained times and should never have been privatised. Connex was a step back in every way and the network ended up a fragmented mess.
Love the three dashes on the front too. I thing they were on other trains for years after the rest repainted. Network SouthEast was a breath of fresh air when it arrived. If we can get the rail network back to what it was in that era we’d be onto a good thing given they didn’t have a pot to pee in and achieved so much. It’s not blind nostalgia as you’ve shown with excellent new stations, new trains, and so much else. Government funding via British Rail helped but the management were excellent at making it stretch.