Today, the first-ever Great British Railways branded Class 387 was officially unveiled at Brighton. The train, operated by Southern, has received the new red, white and blue GBR livery ahead of Govia Thameslink Railway moving into public ownership later this month.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend the unveiling myself. Had I known about it sooner, I definitely would’ve tried my best to get down to Brighton and get some photos of the unit in person. Sadly, I’ll have to rely on official government images and photos already circulating online for now — but it’s still really interesting to see the first train carrying the new Great British Railways branding.

Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander, said:

The unveiling of the first GBR-branded train in Brighton today makes the future of Britain’s railways a reality.

It represents all of the work being done by staff up and down the country to fundamentally reform our railway.

This isn’t just a paint job – it’s an important step towards building a more joined‑up, publicly owned railway that puts passengers first, delivers better services and leaves the frustrations and fragmentation of the past behind.

From the photographs I’ve seen online so far, I actually quite like the new Great British Railways livery. The red, white and blue design gives the Class 387 a clean and modern appearance whilst still feeling distinctly British. It’s certainly a bold change compared to the current Southern branding, and it’ll be interesting to see how the livery looks once it begins appearing across more trains in the future.

I’m genuinely gutted that I wasn’t able to make it down to either Brighton or London for the unveiling, especially as opportunities like this don’t come around very often. Had I known about the event in advance, I definitely would’ve tried my best to travel down and document it for myself with my own photos and videos. As someone who enjoys covering the railway and documenting new developments, missing the first public appearance of the GBR-branded Class 387 is a little disappointing.

That said, I’m hoping to head down and see the unit for myself at some point in the future. Seeing new liveries in person is always completely different to viewing them through photographs online, and I’d love the opportunity to properly photograph and film the train myself once the chance comes around.

John Whitehurst, Chief Operating Officer for GTR, said:

We’re very pleased to be the first train operator to have a Great British Railways-branded train on our network, and I’m proud of how hard colleagues have worked to get us here.

It’s a significant milestone for everyone at GTR, which reflects our readiness for change and the improvements we’ve already been delivering for customers.

As we move closer to our transition to public ownership on 31 May, our priorities remain providing safe and reliable services every day, with customers, colleagues and communities at the heart of everything we do.

And with that said, I’m also looking forward to the potential for our own Merseyrail network to eventually be brought fully into public ownership in 2028. There have been proposals from Steve Rotheram to bring Merseyrail back into public hands once the current concession comes to an end, alongside the wider re-nationalisation of the railways currently taking place across the United Kingdom.

If you have any thoughts on the new Great British Railways livery, I’d genuinely love to hear them in the comments below. Whether you’ve already managed to see the train in person, photographed it yourself, or are planning to head out and check it out soon, it’ll be interesting to hear what everyone thinks of the new design and the future direction of the railways moving forward.

Personally, I think it’s always exciting seeing the beginning of a new era on the railway, especially when it’s something as significant as the first train carrying Great British Railways branding. Hopefully I’ll be able to see it for myself properly in the near future.