The Metro Just Got Uglier
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- Опубликовано: 8 фев 2025
- One of the most instantly recognisable features of the major stations on the Tyne and Wear Metro is their full-height colourful station names displayed on the platform.
But over the past few months, the colour in the Calvert names has been disappearing. Let's talk about it...
the old texts were iconic
Viewers may be interested to know that the coloured lettering actually had a meaning as designed by Margaret Calvert's team. They signified aspects such as 'bus interchange', 'rail interchange' etc.
Why is Chichester and Longbenton red, if red means rail interchange? (which I believe so with Heworth, Central and Manors having red text)
Oh thats genuinely cool@CM_Railways
It's a bad refurbishment. It lightened up the stations with the colourful texts
I walked past the Nissan Dealer near The Biscuit Factory today - parked out the back was a row of about 20 new cars, all but a couple were in some shade of grey or black. If you look around a furniture showroom about 50% of the displayed stock/carpets will be grey. I've nothing against grey or black specifically, but this tyranny of monochrome has gripped this Country for far too long. Hells Bells, we're not noted for our colourful Towns and Cities, and we suffer from some of the most drab weather on the Planet. Bring Back Colour!
I remember some sociological studies found that the % of cars bought that are colourful always goes down in times of economic hardship
The way things are going monochrome makes me think about a segment on the BBC series I Love the 80s about The Face magazine in which the person being interviewed talked about how if that mag hadn't come out, the world would have stayed in monochrome.
It seems we are heading backwards so maybe it's time for another infusion of colour before it's too late.
It’s doing something that didn’t need doing , to give someone a reason to feel better about themselves, being a person who has traveled the metro from its opening, the state of the stations have massively diminished, price increases hasn’t made it better, I remember they used to constantly clean and keep stations up to date , when you look now some haven’t had any work done on them for decades and it shows, but the cost has massively increased,
0:18 Bloody hell, a Gateshead jumpscare.
In all seriousness though, it's probably only a matter of time before all the designs used by the Metro get "simplified" and made as bland and corporate as possible.
Haymarket since the 2009 refurbishment reminds me of the Tube (London Underground) with it's cylinder tunnel design
I think it would’ve been better if it was striped like at Haymarket and Central Station, a full refurbishment wouldn’t go a miss either, which should hopefully be the focus once all new trains are in service
I don't use the Metro often enough that I had noticed this change, but seeing the before and after side by side in this video, it is indeed disappointing they felt the need to remove the colours. We all need MORE colour in our life, not less. 🌈
No, not everything needs to be rainbow coloured
@hardpaper3192 There is more drab than colour in man made structures. Why would you want more drab?
I agree. I was travelling through Jesmond Metro Station today (on the Metro), and found myself thinking … wasn’t that blue? The solid black super-sized Calvert seemed too “heavy.”
The paint over the vitreous enamel panels is a crazy waste of money as it means they can't clean them properly so even the footprints of people leaning on them is already ruining them ergo more money in the long run. The original surface of the panels were designed to be pretty much indestructible and no paint can properly stick to them, (un)fortunately that means that the new matt paint will inevitably come off.
I wish they brought back the old livery with yellow on the bottom and white on the top for the new trains. I've been noticing a few buses around toon with the old livery too and I love it
Well, I knew I was expecting this sort of video to come soon lol
Anyone who thinks corporate uniformity is a worthy goal to aim for must come from a different planet.
It comes from not having a concept of beauty. If there's no such thing as beauty that can be aimed for because it's all in the eye of the beholder, then everyone's opinion cancels out & all you're left with is how we can manipulate others into thinking & doing what we want them to. No great design was ever built on a foundation of such cynicism.
Did this have something to do with increasing visibility for the visually impaired?
i noticed the signs in perth also started to become black signs instead of being the same colour as the line
They should do two tone like in your thumbnail actually looks good!
Where is the major refurbishments for Jesmond, Monument and Central station?
Living as we do in the light rail wastelands of West Gateshead it would be a joy to get worked up about the Metro lettering. As it is, it’s just the occasional weekend treat……..
I rarely travel on Metro, but I was there at the start, on the first ever public train in 1980, and the iconic designs always impressed me. I can't get my head round an organisation spending money to paint over the signs. Just... why?
I guess it's the slippery slope to depersonalisation, Glasgow subway had a similar element where the cladding and typeface border brackets had their own individual colour motif except the stations that where double platformed in the previous modernisation (late 70's) the current modernisation has depersonalised all stations with little colour, the only colour indicating the inner and outer circle. ❤
Always handy to colour code stations as it reduces the amount of folk missing a stop, if blind, use a unique jingle. Design is getting stale through minimalism, we need to get loud through maximalism to enhance the design of metro networks, embracing the unique to make a destination particular. ❤
(The tiles on the floor reminds me of the 70's modernisation of the Glasgow subway so it made me reflect on how terrible the modernisation of the toy train loop is 😅)
🎉🎉🎉🎨🖌️🎨🖌️🎨🖌️
The removal of colour has been ongoing for the last 15 years give or take, back then many if not all of the outdoor stations (except those on the Sunderland branch) had all the coloured metal railings etc painted black. Now 15 years later the paint is flaking in many places revealing the original colour underneath which makes the stations look shabbier than they otherwise would if the colours had been maintained, your not going to notice paint flaking if the paint underneath is the same colour, well not as easily at least.
I'm not a fan of the monochromatic design that a lot of modern infrastructure seem to have, it's just a bit boring. The Tube stations with their original coloured tiling are much more interesting and vibrant
Try byker or Chichester and then come back to jesmond and see what you think , atleast people are working hard to keep the metro stations up to date compared to the stations that get vandalised and people wonder why ticket prices going up it’s the own community ruining it for the rest if people want nexus to spend more and more money maintaining the metro then people need to stop ruining all of the stations , you know nothing
I don't use the Metro much but it does seem a retrograde step to make the colourful station names monochrome.
It's very sad to me that in the last decade or so, the Tyne and Wear Metro, Merseyrail, and Glasgow Subway have all undergone substantial renovations which have scrubbed away a lot of the systems' unique character in favour of a generic "modern" look, and now they all look much of a muchness. Why all this obsession with modernisation? Why can't things be of their time?
Guess a lot of people aren't fond of mid-century aesthetics, and it's usually not old or beloved enough to be something that's protected
@@edificity Yeah, but it makes me think of all the Victorian buildings that weren't popular in the 60s and were knocked down and replaced with modernist monstrosities. I wonder if we're not seeing the next generation of that.
We were less protective in the 60’s actually, so i think by the time the eighties design becomed old and beloved, we will still have preseved more of it than we did with vic are stuff in the 60s
If I were a designer, I'd have a rule: never design with modernity in mind, because it will just need replacing in a few years when modernity has moved on.
Also as well that Nexus have spent a lot of money 💰 on the new Metro 🚇 Trains.
Imagine the cost of potential new rail track to take the metro to Durham, Washington etc. 😂
This is a nationwide issue. At a larger scale, the failure of Rail Alphabet 2. This country has lost its passion for design.
How has Rail Alphabet 2 failed?
@@Nick-kz6dg rollout has taken way too long. Stations under redevelopment that should be using it by now, like Victoria and Euston, are instead using substitutes like Arial and/or basic things like the wrong colour scheme/type kerning. They're not even using Brunel anymore. There's clearly a lack of coordination/communication.
Not only rail, I could go on about other things like how inconsistent cycle paths are. Why should cycle paths in London be red and in Manchester be green?
Controversial opinion: I like the black lettering, it fits much better with the current design language. Though I totally agree that the execution was poor, they really should have made new vinyls instead of just paint.
If I remember correctly they weren't vinyls they were enamelled into the panels.
@daviddunbar5754 I guess that would make sense for durability.
They should have left the station signs as they were in the 1980s glory until they can be refurbished
I like both in a sense. It's a sad hit to the heritage but it looks fresh and it's contrast is immense. However, the fact its just slapped on paint is sad. I'm hoping there's a greater plan. Hopefully this is only temporary?
Agreed, hope it's very temporary
You got nothing to do but read the text due to the amount of cancellations. Nexus might as well be called Next Bus
Completely agree with you. The change isn't offensive, but it does just seems like a pointless "renovation". There's plenty they can do to renovate the stations and this isn't really something anyone was complaining about. In fact, all they've done is now provide small reason to complain, rather than take a reason away. And, with the aging of the old fleet, getting rid of any reason people can complain is what they should be focusing on right now.
It's a shame. Some of the stations like Haymarket do look quite nice. They're bright, clear and look modern...but I do miss the old differences and the paint job is disgusting.
Though I don't expect any quality with the system anymore.
Thats a bit depressing. And tgey still haven't refurbished a lot of the stations.
New price rises coming. A four minute journey from Northumberland Park to West Monkseaton = £4
Poor value for money and a service punctuated with cancelled and delayed trains.
Maybe 🤔 get some artists or painters to give the Metro 🚇 a bit of colour.
Depends how much it costs eh. 😂
Metro Apologises
The operator is not the owner of the Metro. And they need to be brought to heel! They are the servant. We are their master. And they can get rid of them ugly mean looking trains and they should pay for it out of their own salaries and bring our happy Thomas the Tank Engine style metro's back.
It's got nothing to do with brand identity, and it's a worldwide phenomenon. I'm sure it's to do with keeping people in a low, tired, stressed, and depressed state as we're easily controlled that way. EVERYONE, EVERYTHING, AND EVERYWHERE seems to be getting turned either this dystopian gray or, as you put it, monochrome. It's like that film Equilibrium. Where colour, emotion, expression, or to feel is banned unless allowed or fitting of the narrative by those in control. Or not so much, just women, being replaced by robots but people in general, in The Stepford Wives. The only thing that seems to matter anymore is every last penny they can get. I'm not even completely sure that humans are even the ones in complete control anymore as we've automated or computerised so much. RUclipss' whole system is an absolutely perfect example of this very idea. They've openly admitted they're not totally sure how it works anymore with the AI stuff, and that scares me. Don't even get me started on the bio mecha that they are now trying to say they are going to be putting into our bodies. That's just bloody cyberpunk, and that scares me even more!
Because they want all the stations to be bland and boring, so are the Yellow signs staying and not going Black, seems a bit stupid if you ask me, wouldn't have to be a patch up if they delivered the full refurbishment on the Underground Stations like they promised
The station designs should stick to the fundamental metro colour pallet. that is the Tyne and Wear PTE. Yellow, White, black and blue. the Gray is a modern addition I don't like it. They are two route we can go down 1. Individualised stations designed via competition 2. keep the standardised system we currently have but with more diversity, eg. All stations in Newcastle would have a black and white colour palet, Like st james', central station and Haymarket. Sunderland city, Stadium of light to University, Red and White No black. Manors to Longbenton and Hebburn to South shields, Yellow and White which from here on I will call "Original" South Hylton to Millfield then Seaburn to Fellgate and Regent Center to Airport, Pastel This is based of the Green and Yellow routes, Stations that are part of both routes outside of Newcastle South Gosforth to Jesmond, Gateshead to Pelaw would have the original yellow bar but the like the extension, pastel panels denoting a mixed use station. These colour schemes would be extra helpful to riders identifying stations. opposed to the whole system being black and white which is what i suspect the system's organisers are going for.
In addition, taking a leave out of Go north's book. We can also have the fleet's liveries in conjuntion with the two routes. if they are 90 units in the fleet, you can have 40 in old PTE, intended for the yellow route, 40 in a new pastel livery 2 in Black and white 2 in Red and white and the remainder for special liveries eg, heritage, pride or corporate sponsors ect
Saves money so more for there pockets.
Modernity is such a shame
Sad
I think they’ve made quite a few questionable choices recently, for example the seating arrangement on the new metros is terrible and feels to utilitarian
TIME FOR GRAFFITI start with Chalk.. Add in Cute little Station Icons from above
Pointless and as your video shows not even very well executed.
How would you make it better then?
@@metrotyler They mean that the repainting is pointless, not that the video is
@ Oh yes, you're right. The lack of commas made me think they were calling the video pointless and poorly executed.
Ah, the words brand identity never fail to make me cringe.
There's not really a better term and it is important. Manchester Metrolink has a strong identity, for example, and almost the same colour palette.