Finland’s state-owned rail service provider VR has announced a rebrand which will see its rolling stock repainted but retaining its green and white colour scheme.
The ambition of the new design is to attract more Finns to use the service by making the trains “more cheerful and dynamic”.
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The design process began in the autumn of 2023, when Finnish art and design “community” Ornamo launched a competition to find a new design. The successful designs were chosen by a public vote, and then put to both customer and staff focus groups to decide the final winner.
“We wanted a look that is linked to VR’s recognizable brand elements, such as the green colour scheme, but is bold and energetic at the same time,” said VR CEO Elisa Markula.
The new design might keep the familiar shade of green, but its new layout creates a sense of motion, according to the VR design director.
“Only one green colour has been used in the look, but the change in the width of the horizontal stripes creates different shades of green, especially when viewed from a distance. At the same time, it creates a strong sense of movement,” Sauli Suomela, Pentagon Design’s design director said.
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By GlobalDataThe design brief required the various rolling stock and locomotives used by VR to be desirable when viewed from any distance.
“Trains must look good when viewed from different distances: gliding by in the distant landscape and up close on the station platform when a passenger boards the train. When designing the look, it was also important to take into account the different shapes of the train, utilize them and bring linearity to the bulky means of transport,” according to the company.
The new exterior designs will first be used in VR’s new train fleet: long-distance trains acquired from Sweden and commuter trains coming to Finland, which will arrive for trial runs in 2025 and begin passenger traffic in 2026, sleeper carriages, which will be used in 2025, and those returning to service at the end of 2025, previously In SM6 trains known as Allegro.
The exterior of the current fleet will be changed gradually, simultaneously with the renovation of the interior of the trains, the company said. The introduction of a new look in the current train fleet takes several years, because as many changes as possible are made to one train car at once, and the change of look is carried out so that it does not affect the scope of train traffic.
