Story in brief:
In the U.K., National Express Group decided to combine four rail lines (Anglia, West Anglia, West Anglia, Great Eastern and Stansted Express) into one integrated service, created a 'company' to manage it and named the company one... or is it One, or in text must it be always 'one?'

Credits:
CEO - Phil White, of the parent National Express Group
Identity counsel, naming services & logo design - Nottingham's Lawrence Pierce are the "brandsmiths" one credits for 'one.'

First Impressions:
Too clever by half. No one private entity can own "one;" it is too important, in everyday speech, to the rest of us. 'one' is learning quickly that 'one' is difficult, and ultimately impossible, to work with; unless one can wholly control every context in which the name is used, one can never be sure what one means.
Indeed, the East Anglian Daily Times reported (May 5, 2004) that "TRAIN operator One is to stop using its name in station announcements - because they have been leaving passengers confused. They think that the [loudspeaker] is saying the 7:21 service is leaving, when in fact it is saying the 7:20 One service is leaving."

Adding insult to injury, the consultants have evidently persuaded 'one' that its name must not be capitalized, in defiance of the grammatical rule that a proper name is signaled by its capitalization.

Given the name, I like the logo's restraint (and the notion that the O shape echoes the cross-section of a rail car).

Mr. White, the solution I suggest is relatively painless (if legally available). You can keep the 'one' logo but accept that the name is One Rail (or OneRail or Rail One). This ensures your control of the context in which One is heard and understood, and people will feel less silly using the name.

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