THE familiar blue and green livery of Thamesdown Transport is set to become a thing of the past as the firm’s new owners unveil a radical alternative branding scheme.

Thamesdown Transport’s fleet still carries the logo of the old Thamesdown Council, a nod to its proud history as a local authority bus company which, until February, was still run at arm’s length by Swindon Borough Council.

But the financial plight of the firm led to the council offloading it to leading transport company Go South Coast, part of the Go Ahead group.

With new management in charge, Thamesdown has seen a series of investment pledges with new buses, new cleaning equipment and brand new routes unveiled over the past two months.

And now it is time for a new look that will revolutionise the appearance of the company’s buses, bus stops, websites and timetables.

“Since welcoming Thamesdown into the Go South Coast family, we have introduced a number of positive changes, designed to further enhance the services we offer in the region,” said Andrew Wickham, Thamesdown managing director.

“With a fleet of new buses set to arrive shortly, we wanted to freshen up our appearance - and we called upon the services of renowned public transport designer Ray Stenning of Best Impressions.

“We’re delighted by the new look livery created by them.

“The response we received from people living and working in the area also led us to tweak our name, and I’m delighted to introduce Thamesdown, Swindon’s bus company.

“We love the whole new look - and we hope our customers will too.”

The new livery features a varied colour scheme including blue, yellow, red, white and green.

The designers wanted to give a nod to Thamesdown’s heritage, while providing a “bright and refreshing new appearance”.

Passengers will start to see the changes phased in around Swindon over the coming months.

The firm is due to take delivery of the first set of new buses, complete with the new livery, by the middle of next month.

The decision to alter the name of the company, or at least the way it is displayed, will not come as a complete surprise.

The morning after the firm’s sale was confirmed, Andrew Wickham pointed to the black and white photos from yesteryear on the boardroom wall at the Barnfield Road depot and said that while there may be some colour scheme or livery changes in the future, the Thamesdown brand carried important historical significance and was here to stay.

Within weeks of the takeover, a survey exploring the public’s views on the use of Thamesdown as a name was circulated, leading to speculation that the new bosses were exploring the possibility of dropping it altogether.

That was denied at the time, but the alteration revealed this week suggests that it was felt some sort of name change was needed.

The new livery sees the word Thamesdown presented far less prominently compared to the word Swindon.

What do you think about the new look livery? Get in touch and let us know.