Have you ever noticed the logo or symbol that all the trains and stations of surroundings? For many people it represents a clock that in some way symbolizes the fact that they are short-distance trains, but the truth is that it is not like that at all and we finally know what it corresponds to and how said logo originated. Find out below, the hidden meaning of the Cercanías logo: you would never have imagined it.
The meaning of the Cercanías logo
Although for many people the suburban logo is something they are more than used to, the truth is that it is not a logo that is too old at all. Created by Alberto Corazón, National Design Awardbegan to be seen on commuter trains in the year 1989 so he is only 33 years old.
The birth of the Cercanías
However, it is a logo that we all have integrated into our lives or that we have seen enough times to know that represents what looks like a letter “C” (for “proximities”) but almost backwards. A symbol that is not at all casual and that was created so that the commuter line could have its own entity.
In fact, until 1988, when Renfe commissioned Heart the name and the logo, the commuter trains didn’t really have a name. In the brochures or at the station they were indicated as trains or commuter services, while people knew them as “train” without more, so that their creator decided that “Cercanías” should not be just a name but a brand.
In fact, he not only designed the logo and gave the mentioned name to the lines and trains that made the short journeys, but also opted for white trains with a red roof so that they were something modern and different, considering that at that time the trains used to be completely green or dark blue.
The origin of the Cercanías symbol
As for the logo, the first idea was that of a C within a circle, but when the suburban network began to function, the one of Catalonia which would have the name of “Rodalies» («Cercanías» in Catalan) so that the C didn’t fit and it was not going to “marry” much with the rest of the names for these trains in the communities with other co-official languages (“Rodalia” in Valencia, “Aldiriak” in the Basque Country and “Proximities” in Galicia.
In this way, to Heart came up with the idea of turning the C so that he gave feeling that it was in motion and with it that could better represent the trains. And so it has remained and so it continues to be one of the Spanish logos that we can recognize the fastest as soon as we see it.
