(05 Feb 2020, 1:19 pm)big mac wrote I think the main flaw with those brands is that they don't have a name. I suppose there's one argument to say that they've just kept it simple, but when you've had stuff like Castles Express, Angel, Blaydon Racer etc, and then you've just got "the 9" it just has that look of them having got to that one and just thought sod it, can't he arsed to think of anything.
Castles Express will always be my favourite route brand. There's something about it that just sounds premium, much better than X-Lines imo. That's not to say I don't like X-Lines, I've really came round to it, and the buses themselves in the X-Lines livery do look very smart!
Plus, it just really flows on the NSA ("This is the Castles Express X21 Service to Newcastle"), whereas X-Lines just sounds very harsh ("This is the X-Lines X21 Service to Newcastle"). I think I just find 4 syllable route brands more pleasing on the ear