Although railway privatisation is only just over a decade old, there have been a great variety of liveries that have been introduced since then that have, for a variety of reasons, disappeared. The factors behind these losses are many and varied. In certain cases the franchisee has ceased to exist either as a result of having the franchise stripped from them as a result of poor performance or losing out when the franchise was up for renegotiation. This has resulted, for example, in the disappearance most recently of Central Trains, Midland Main Line and Great North Eastern. Then there are the liveries that represented earlier phases in the history of the ongoing franchisees; on South West Trains, for example, the original livery as applied to the rolling stock inherited from BR has largely disappeared as a result of the arrival of new rolling stock, the withdrawal of the older types and the refurbishment of the Class 455s. In addition there were various advertising liveries applied - such a those featuring airlines used on the Gatwick Express services and those highlighting Remembrance Day on South West Trains.
In all, around 200 liveries and variants have come and gone since 1994 and this new book is a comprehensive reference to all the liveries that have come and gone since privatisation was introduced.