Do what you like with posters etc.. but a lack of colour on a station nameboard is not going to cause a meltdown (except on here it seems).
But do they look cheap, cheerful and an effort to save money or look stingy? Because if the signage is like that, maybe the trains are too! Or do they project a image of a company that cares about it's customers?
If I was a travelling passenger, I'd be more likely to travel with a company that has some sort of brand. Black writing on plain white isn't really much of anything and while functional, so is Smart Price toilet paper.
The arguments for years have been about replacing the colourful signs of one company with the colourful signs of another and the usual ‘waste of money’ remarks. Now it is being standardised into something simple with no need to alter it in years to come because a swoosh has gone out of fashion and needs to be replaced with a triangle or something daft like that.
This is hopefully going to be a one hit simple rebrand (nothing fancy, just something that does the job it is intended to do) that can then be put to bed for years to come and divert us onto more important things such as safety, accessibility, cleanliness, reliability etc…
Remember, it's not about having some multi-coloured expensive sign that sings the trains at you.
It's about a corporate brand and a company identity. Even GBR will need an identity and brand, hence Rail Alphabet 2.
People seem to miss the fact that each company wants it's own brand and own identity and dismiss signage replacement as a "waste of money". It really isn't but not many people see that.
To understand the power of brand and identity, look at the Virgin Group. While not many are fans of Richard Branson, the brand he has "built" from a marketing point of view will always be one of success. Other brands that got in there include Blutac, Sellotape, Tippex, Hoover and to bring things up to date, Google - people rarely use the term "search" these days, they just say "google it".
While these brands aren't public service companies, people need to start looking at GBR from a marketing/branding point of view, not a paying passenger.