[Talk-GB] National Rail as a brand (was: Bulk railway station changes)

[AJ Ashton]

I've been looking into the specifics of using the operator tag as an
approach to deciding icons for rail stations. I've also been thinking
about this relates to the information I am actually trying to
get/communicate here-- the particular problem I am hoping to solve is
essentially one of branding. This is definitely related to operators
and networks, but not always clearly or consistently.

I wonder if a more direct approach is possible. OpenStreetMap has a
well-used brand tag for identity information that doesn't fit as
'name' or 'operator'. I see it used a lot in the case of Deutsche
Post, another situation where the well-known branding of a
nationalized system was kept fairly similar after privatization.

In the previous thread it was mentioned that many people don't
commonly refer to any part of the system as 'National Rail', but it
seems that is the official name for the double-arrow brand used on
signage and maps.

The Wikipedia page for National Rail says that ATOC claims 'National
Rail' is not a 'brand', but rather has been designed "to explain to
rail travellers that there is a National Railway network and material
carrying this descriptor covers all passenger Train Companies." That
sounds rather brand-like to me, even if they don't want to refer to it
that way. The Wikipedia page for ATOC does refer to 'National Rail' as
a brand (saying that ATOC "owns the National Rail brand").

So what I'm wondering is, could 'brand=National Rail' be an
appropriate tag for stations that would be marked with the double
arrow in signs, etc?

References:

- <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Rail>
- <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Train_Operating_Companies>
- <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche_Post_(brand)>

-- 
AJ Ashton