Iconic Roundels Installed at Elizabeth Line Stations
110 years on from the installation of the first roundel sign at St James’s Park Underground station, the latest version of Transport for London’s (TfL’s) historic design has begun to make an appearance across London’s newest railway – the Elizabeth line.
The first new roundels have been installed at stations including Tottenham Court Road, Farringdon and Custom House in a significant milestone for Europe’s largest infrastructure project.
New Roundels and Signage
TfL and London Underground is famous for its rich heritage of design and the Elizabeth line is set to continue that tradition. While at the forefront of modern engineering and technology, the new railway will feature instantly recognisable roundels and signage. New photography and video footage released gives a glimpse of the craft behind the production of Elizabeth line signage, including:
- Manufacture of roundels at family-owned A. J. Wells & Sons Ltd on the Isle of Wight, where London transport signage has been produced for generations
- Installation of platform roundels manufactured by Merson, based outside of Glasgow
- Wayfinding signage produced by Wood & Wood in Exeter
The TfL roundel is among the most recognised and imitated logos in the world. The newest addition to the roundel family – the purple Elizabeth line roundel – has been carefully designed to ensure it is visually distinctive from the London Underground and London Overground lines.
The Elizabeth line
The Elizabeth line is set to redefine transport in London with quicker, easier and more accessible journeys when it launches in 11 months’ time. Construction has now entered its final stages and the line will open to the public in phases from December, when ten new state-of-the-art stations, all step-free, will open.
The Elizabeth line is jointly sponsored by the Department for Transport and TfL and will connect stations such as Paddington to Canary Wharf in only 17 minutes, transforming how Londoners and visitors move across the Capital.
From December, the line will initially operate as three services:
- Paddington (Elizabeth line station) to Abbey Wood via central London
- Paddington (mainline station) to Heathrow (Terminals 2 & 3 and 4)
- Liverpool Street (mainline station) to Shenfield
Fifteen trains per hour will run through the new tunnels, increasing to 24 trains per hour through the central section by May 2019.
Mike Brown MVO, London’s Transport Commissioner, said:
No other city is as defined by its transport system as London. The roundel is at the heart of our heritage, guiding Londoners and visitors to our city for over 100 years.
Our state-of-the-art new railway, the Elizabeth line, will balance cutting edge engineering with the familiarity of traditional TfL design. Introducing the next generation of roundels to our stations brings us one step closer to the launch of the Elizabeth line this December.
Original article © Crossrail.
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