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Crossrail is to be named the Elizabeth line in honour of the Queen, the Standard can reveal today.

The name was unveiled along with the line’s purple colour theme as the Queen visited Bond Street station with Mayor Boris Johnson and Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin to see construction and meet staff.

The Mayor said: “Queen Elizabeth has given extraordinary service to this country over an unprecedented period and it is entirely right that she should be honoured with a living tribute that will last for centuries.”

Mr Johnson came up with the idea to call the £15 billion route after Her Majesty two years ago — but the name has been kept under wraps until now.

When it is completed the Elizabeth line is expected to carry 200 million passengers a year, running from Reading and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east via central London.

The first section will be known as Crossrail when it opens next May, between Liverpool Street and Shenfield in Essex.

The route will officially become the Elizabeth line when trains start running through central London in December 2018, linking Paddington and Abbey Wood.

At Bond Street today the Queen viewed work being carried out on the ticket hall, platforms and tunnels, and was presented with a commemorative “Elizabeth” roundel.

She met staff including apprentices, trainee drivers as well as London Transport Commissioner Mike Brown, Crossrail chairman Terry Morgan and the scheme’s chief executive Andrew Wolstenholme.

Mr McLoughlin said: “Given Her Majesty’s long association with UK transport, it is very fitting that this vital link across our capital will be named the Elizabeth Line in her honour.”

The Queen became the first reigning monarch to travel on the Tube in 1969, when she opened the Victoria line.

In 1977, the Jubilee line was officially opened by Prince Charles and marked her 25 years on the throne.

In 2013, the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh and Duchess of Cambridge, visited Baker Street station to mark the Tube’s 150th anniversary.

Work on Europe’s largest infrastructure project started in 2009 and is more than 70 per cent complete. Tunnelling — using eight huge 1,000-tonne boring machines — is complete and the focus has shifted to fitting out the 40 stations and 26 miles of twin-bore tunnels.

When fully operational, 24 trains an hour will run in each direction on the Elizabeth line, adding 10 per cent to London’s rail capacity.

Journey times between Bond Street and Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3 will take 29 minutes — 20 minutes faster than now.

A look back at the London commute 22 show all A look back at the London commute 1/22 On the London Underground a commuter reads a copy of D H Lawrence's 'Lady Chatterley's Lover', unaware of the fellow passengers surreptitiously reading over his shoulder, 3rd November 1960 Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 2/22 Chancellor of the Exchequer William Ewart Gladstone with directors and engineers of the Metropolitan Railway Company on an inspection tour of the world's first underground line, 24th May 1862. Built between Paddington and the City of London, it opened in January of the following year. Gladstone is seen in the front row, near right Getty Images 3/22 27th September 1919: London workers on their way to the city during the railway strike Topical Press Agency/Getty Images) 4/22 12th April 1957: Guitarist Brian Hinton busking to travellers on the London Underground Express/Getty Images 5/22 June 1919: Bank holiday crowds piling onto an open top tram car at Golders Green station, London H. F. Davis/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 6/22 25th November 1975: A queue at the ticket office at Gloucester Road underground station, London Fred Mott/Evening Standard 7/22 'Guardian Angel' Curtis Sliwa patrolling a London Tube train in 1989 Rex 8/22 1st April 1979: A string quartet play on the Jubilee Line at Bond Street station, London Graham Morris/Evening Standard 9/22 13th October 1944: An underground train on the District Line in London, equipped with a new system of lighting Getty Images 10/22 13th April 1967: London commuters try out the new Raleigh motorised small-wheeled cycle, which features automatic transmission Fox Photos/Getty Images 11/22 A cyclist riding a penny farthing over Hammersmith Bridge, London circa 1900's Hulton Archive/Getty Images 12/22 The Escalator at Holborn Station in 1939 Anthony Wallace/Associated Newspapers 13/22 Traffic using Putney Bridge, 1929 Fox Photos/Getty Images 14/22 Stranded commuters in 1965 wait on platform 6 at Cannon Street station in London during a train driver's go-slow. Tempers became frayed with passengers demanding announcements and protesting with slow hand claps and boos. Station staff refused to work without a police escort Norman Potter/Getty Images 15/22 Commuters entering Piccadilly Circus Tube station, London, circa 1953 Ernst Haas/Ernst Haas/Getty Images 16/22 16th March 1934: Passengers arrive at Victoria train station in London Fox Photos/Getty Images 17/22 circa 1965: Commuters cross London Bridge on their way to work Central Press/Getty Images 18/22 circa 1939: Commuters travelling by train at Waterloo Railway Station, London Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 19/22 A crowded platform at Paddington Station, London, during the General Strike, 12th May 1926 Kirby/Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 20/22 December 1956: A London policeman directs commuters to an alternative entrance to London's Piccadilly Circus underground Tube station Werner Rings/BIPs/Getty Image 21/22 1900's: A London tram running between Brixton, Kennington, Elephant and Castle, and Blackfriars Bridge Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 22/22 1924: The entrance to Blackfriars Underground station, London Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 1/22 On the London Underground a commuter reads a copy of D H Lawrence's 'Lady Chatterley's Lover', unaware of the fellow passengers surreptitiously reading over his shoulder, 3rd November 1960 Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 2/22 Chancellor of the Exchequer William Ewart Gladstone with directors and engineers of the Metropolitan Railway Company on an inspection tour of the world's first underground line, 24th May 1862. Built between Paddington and the City of London, it opened in January of the following year. Gladstone is seen in the front row, near right Getty Images 3/22 27th September 1919: London workers on their way to the city during the railway strike Topical Press Agency/Getty Images) 4/22 12th April 1957: Guitarist Brian Hinton busking to travellers on the London Underground Express/Getty Images 5/22 June 1919: Bank holiday crowds piling onto an open top tram car at Golders Green station, London H. F. Davis/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 6/22 25th November 1975: A queue at the ticket office at Gloucester Road underground station, London Fred Mott/Evening Standard 7/22 'Guardian Angel' Curtis Sliwa patrolling a London Tube train in 1989 Rex 8/22 1st April 1979: A string quartet play on the Jubilee Line at Bond Street station, London Graham Morris/Evening Standard 9/22 13th October 1944: An underground train on the District Line in London, equipped with a new system of lighting Getty Images 10/22 13th April 1967: London commuters try out the new Raleigh motorised small-wheeled cycle, which features automatic transmission Fox Photos/Getty Images 11/22 A cyclist riding a penny farthing over Hammersmith Bridge, London circa 1900's Hulton Archive/Getty Images 12/22 The Escalator at Holborn Station in 1939 Anthony Wallace/Associated Newspapers 13/22 Traffic using Putney Bridge, 1929 Fox Photos/Getty Images 14/22 Stranded commuters in 1965 wait on platform 6 at Cannon Street station in London during a train driver's go-slow. Tempers became frayed with passengers demanding announcements and protesting with slow hand claps and boos. Station staff refused to work without a police escort Norman Potter/Getty Images 15/22 Commuters entering Piccadilly Circus Tube station, London, circa 1953 Ernst Haas/Ernst Haas/Getty Images 16/22 16th March 1934: Passengers arrive at Victoria train station in London Fox Photos/Getty Images 17/22 circa 1965: Commuters cross London Bridge on their way to work Central Press/Getty Images 18/22 circa 1939: Commuters travelling by train at Waterloo Railway Station, London Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 19/22 A crowded platform at Paddington Station, London, during the General Strike, 12th May 1926 Kirby/Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive/Getty Images 20/22 December 1956: A London policeman directs commuters to an alternative entrance to London's Piccadilly Circus underground Tube station Werner Rings/BIPs/Getty Image 21/22 1900's: A London tram running between Brixton, Kennington, Elephant and Castle, and Blackfriars Bridge Topical Press Agency/Getty Images 22/22 1924: The entrance to Blackfriars Underground station, London Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

Bond Street will be a mere two minutes from Paddington, down from 10 minutes.

The route is expected to bring an extra 1.5 million people within 45 minutes’ commute of London’s key employment districts, and add a projected £42 billion to the British economy.

Mr Brown said: “The Elizabeth line will transform the way people get across our city. In running this important new railway we will ensure that it serves as a fitting tribute to Her Majesty the Queen.”

Terry Morgan, chairman of Crossrail, said: “Construction for the new railway is now over 70 per cent complete.

"The opening of the Elizabeth line in 2018 will be a significant moment for London.”