GWR’s well-loved ‘Trainbow’ Intercity Express Train now features a named tribute to Alan Turing’s World War Two codebreaking

Great Western Railway (GWR) held the train naming ceremony at London Paddington station on Thursday the 26th of May where Alan Turing’s family officially named the train. The special event also saw the unveiling of GWR’s brand new ‘Trainbow’ livery in celebration of the LGBTQ+ community.

Alan is famous for leading a team in ‘Hut 8’ at the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park which was Britain’s codebreaking centre throughout World War II. In 1942 Alan and his team broke the critically important and most complex German Naval Enigma. Alan’s work in computer science was also pioneering and paved the way for computing as we know it today.

Alan is a celebrated role model within the LGBTQ+ community with his legacy supporting a change in social attitudes in the UK.

Laws during the 1950s made it illegal for Alan to be openly gay, and he chose not to avoid his sexuality and was arrested for gross indecency which lead to a sentence of chemical castration. Two years following his appalling sentence, Alan died of cyanide poisoning.

In 2009 an internet campaign was launched which led to Alan being granted a posthumous royal pardon four years later. A subsequent legal amendment came about following the pardon and is known as ‘Turing’s Law’ and has seen 65,000 other convicted gay and bisexual men pardoned.

GWR’s ‘Trainbow’ was first revealed in 2018 in order to show support for the LGBTQ+ community and Pride events taking place across the rail operator’s network. The ‘Trainbow’ livery has now seen an update to feature black, brown, light blue, light pink and white in order to raise awareness for inclusion for trans individuals, marginalised people of colour and those living with HIV/AIDS.

The Intercity Express Train 800008 also recognises the World War II codebreakers and their incredible expertise of palindromes and as you may have unravelled for yourself the livery design celebrating Alan Turing features more in the design than first meets the eye.

Alan’s niece, Inagh Payne, speaking on behalf of the family, said:

“Alan was very special to us and we are so incredibly proud of everything he did. Despite not being fond of neither fuss nor social occasions, he would have been delighted to have a train named after him.

“We have our own fond memories of him as a loving and caring uncle and it is wonderful to see this tribute to him, and that he is remembered, and his life celebrated by so many people.”

GWR Managing Director, Mark Hopwood, said: “It is an honour for us at GWR to name this Intercity Express Train after Alan Turing as we continue to remember those who gave so much during World War Two.

“We at Great Western Railway have a long history of naming trains after Great Westerners, the past and present heroes from across our network.

“It is also great to see this fabulous new Trainbow livery, celebrating not only Alan Turing but also the LGBTQ+ community across the GWR and indeed our colleagues within the rail industry.”

Plymouth City Councillor for Compton, Cllr Dylan Tippetts, said: “Thank you so much to GWR for always standing with the whole LGBTQ+ community and celebrating our diversity; the things that bring us together and not those that divide us.”

Research Historian at Bletchley Park, Dr David Kenyon, said: “It gives me great pleasure to add the endorsement of Bletchley Park Trust to the naming of this locomotive. We hope that it will remind travellers of Turing himself, but also of the thousands of others who worked alongside him to bring signals intelligence to Allied commanders and help bring victory in the Second World War.”

GCHQ Historian Dr David Abrutat said: “Turing’s scientific genius helped to shorten the war and influence the technology we still use today. Today illustrates his status as one of the most iconic LGBT+ figures in the world.

“Turing was embraced for his brilliance and persecuted for being gay. His legacy is a reminder of the value of embracing all aspects of diversity, but also the work we still need to do to become truly inclusive.”