Rail Alphabet

Kinneir and Calvert's second great system, this time for the railway. When British Rail rebranded in 1965, the Design Research Unit adopted their Rail Alphabet for all lettering other than printed matter: station signs, trackside signs and train interiors alike. How far it traveled is the best measure of how well it works. The NHS took it up for hospital signs, the British Airports Authority used it widely, and so did the Danish rail operator DSB. In 2020 Calvert returned to it with Henrik Kubel to make Rail Alphabet 2, which adds lighter weights, so the design is still being worked on rather than kept as a museum piece.