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A notable trainbow, the Avanti West Coast Progress train.
Thameslink's trainbow-liveried Class 700

Trainbow is the nickname that is given to the LGBT marketing concept by train operating companies, initially in the United Kingdom, to cover their trains and carriages in rainbows or pride flags. The word is a portmanteau of the words "train" and "rainbow".

History

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The trainbow was started by Transport for London in June 2015 by decorating two DLR B92 trains for Pride in London, after previously doing it on a Routemaster bus and a London taxi under the phase "Ride with Pride".[1] After the success of the interest in rainbow-decorated light rail carriages, other train operating companies started decorating trains in rainbow colours and LGBT symbols, notably starting in 2018. Later, the hashtag #trainbow came out on Twitter as a reference to these rainbow coloured trains.

Notable trainbows include a GWR Class 800 IET Alan Turing, serial number 800008, which has rainbow stripes on the front,[2] the Avanti West Coast Class 390 Pendolino Progress, serial number 390119, the first one that is covered from end-to-end in pride colours,[3] and the LNER Class 801 Azuma Together, serial number 801226, which has multiple stripes based on various pride flags.[4]

As of May 2024, the only British train operating companies (TOCs) that have not had trainbows are: Northern, Transport for Wales Rail, Hull Trains, Merseyrail, Grand Central, Caledonian Sleeper and Eurostar. When enquired, TfW Rail has said it has no plans to introduce trainbows on its train in the near future. [5] In May 2024, West Midlands Trains decorated a Class 730 Aventra (serial number 730018), [6] while Cross Country introduced a trainbow on one of its Class 220 Voyager (serial number 220005) and a Class 170 Turbostar (serial number 170618) as part of Birmingham Pride. [7]

A German trainbow, a decorated Deutsche Bahn Class 423

Trainbows have since expanded to other nations, starting in 2019, when France's SNCF wrapped a TGV inOui Euroduplex locomotive in rainbow colours to celebrate 50 years of Pride.[8] In June 2022, as part of the celebration of Dublin Pride, Ireland's Iarnród Éireann wrapped a CIÉ 8100 Class DART commuter train (serial number 8315). [9] In Belgium, in June 2023, a number of SNCB carriages of a SNCB Class 08 Desiro (serial number AM08 8586), had rainbow wrappings celebrating IDAHOBIT and Brussels Pride [nl].[10][11]

Germany has a number of trains which have been wrapped with rainbow decals. It first started in July 2021 with an ICE 3 nicknamed Rainbow Train (serial number 403 504-4), having its famous red stripe replaced with a rainbow stripe to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Deutsche Bahn's LGBT+ employee network, railbow.[12][13]

Trainbows were immortalised in miniature form in August 2023 when Hornby Railways began selling a miniature version of the GWR's Alan Turing train.[14]

A Northern Irish trainbow on a NIR Class 3000 DMU

While NI Railways wrapped two NIR Class 3000 units with trainbows (serial numbers 3006 and 3021) in April 2020, they are dedicated to the local health service instead of LGBT causes as part of a COVID-19-related marketing campaign called #ChaseTheRainbow.[15][16]

Influence on other transport

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Since the creation of trainbows, other forms of transport in the UK, including regional buses,[17] [18] and even a Loganair Embraer 145 plane, have marked Pride.[19][20]

References

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  1. ^ "DLR Train Turns All The Colours Of The Rainbow". Londonist. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  2. ^ "GWR honours WWII codebreaker Alan Turing and unveils new 'Trainbow' livery". GWR News. 26 May 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  3. ^ "Avanti West Coast launches the UK's first fully wrapped Pride train staffed by all LGBTQ+ crew". Avanti West Coast News. 25 August 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  4. ^ Mansfield, Ian (2 June 2023). "LNER introduces Azuma Train in a celebration of Pride". ianVisits. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  5. ^ TfW Rail [@tfwrail] (25 January 2024). "Hi Philippe, I've been informed that we do not have any current plans for a trainbow livery. We have given this consideration in the past, but from engaging with colleagues we decided to move in a different direction (1/2)" (Tweet). Retrieved 2 February 2024 – via Twitter.
  6. ^ West Midlands Railway [@WestMidRailway] (23 May 2024). "🌈🚆 Say 'Hey girl, hey!' to 'Hurst Street'! 🏳‍🌈 Our 2024 Pride train, named after the ♥ of Birmingham's Gay Village & the very first of our 'Landmark Class' 730 fleet! ✨ Joining us in Birmingham this weekend for Pride? Make sure to take a selfie & tag us! #BirminghamPride" (Tweet). Retrieved 23 May 2024 – via Twitter.
  7. ^ RailUK-admin (23 May 2024). "CrossCountry takes pride in supporting LGBT+ communities". Rail UK. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  8. ^ "Un TGV arc-en-ciel circule en France pour célébrer le mois des fiertés" [A rainbow TGV goes around France to celebrate a month of Pride.]. www.rtl.fr (in French). 6 June 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  9. ^ Collins, Proinsias (20 June 2022). "Iarnród Éireann and NTA Wrap DART Carriages in Rainbow Colours to Celebrate Dublin Pride 2022". Transport for Ireland. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  10. ^ Belga (22 January 2024). "La SNCB met un train arc-en-ciel sur les rails en signe de lutte contre l'homophobie" [SNCB put out a rainbow train to signal the struggle against homophobia]. lavenir.net (in French). Archived from the original on 22 January 2024. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  11. ^ Timothy (17 May 2023). "NMBS / SNCB dons train in rainbow colours for pride". Trip By Trip. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  12. ^ "Que(e)r durch Deutschland: DB setzt mit Regenbogen-ICE Zeichen für Vielfalt und Toleranz" [Que(e)r through Germany: DB sets an example for diversity and tolerance with a rainbow ICE.]. Deutsche Bahn (in German). Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  13. ^ ""Deutlich machen, wofür man steht" – Bahn beklebt ICE in Regenbogenfarben" [“Make it clear what you stand for” – Deutsche Bahn puts rainbow colours on a ICE]. Stern.de (in German). 28 January 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  14. ^ "Hornby R3872 GWR, Class 800, Trainbow Train Pack - Era 11 :: Railway Models UK". railwaymodels.uk. Retrieved 23 January 2024.
  15. ^ Conway, Gail (22 April 2020). "Transport company in NI spreads positivity in pandemic". RTÉ News.
  16. ^ Writer, RailUK (20 April 2020). "Translink releases two large Trainbows onto the Northern Ireland network". Rail UK. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  17. ^ "New Pride bus takes to the road". We Are Barnsley. Retrieved 25 January 2024.
  18. ^ Gilbert, Barrie (23 April 2023), "Diversity", Flickr, retrieved 15 May 2024
  19. ^ "Loganair's Pride Jet flying the flag for the LGBTQIA+ community". Loganair. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  20. ^ Velani, Bhavya (16 June 2023). "Loganair Unveils UK's First Ever New Pride Jet for LGBTQ Community". Aviation A2Z. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
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