British Rail wasn’t all bad. Sixty years after the brand launched we should remember its marketing successes

In 2025 Britain is marking the 200th anniversary of the modern railway. Many will be quick to celebrate the legacy of steam engines and the old red lion railway logo, but there’s one bit of Britain’s railway that perhaps doesn’t get enough praise – British Rail. Abbreviated to BR, the brand is 60 this year.

BR officially began trading in 1965 and ended with the privatisation of the railways in 1997. But despite the brand coming to the end of the line, many of its iconic elements remain on the railways today.