The new name was announced yesterday (23 February) by Transport for London at Bond Street Station, where the Queen was presented with a commemorative Elizabeth roundel, and met those involved in the construction of Crossrail.
The Elizabeth line will provide a lasting tribute to the UK’s longest serving monarch
— Transport for London (@TfL)
TfL's PR team told PRWeek the idea was generated by the in-house marcoms and design teams with no external agency support. Discussions with Buckingham Palace took two years before the name was formally approved in September 2015.
Reaction to the name change was mostly positive, contrary to the recent .
James Gordon-MacIntosh, managing partner at agency Hope&Glory, labelled the Elizabeth Line a stroke of genius.
"The royal family is associated in a meaningful way with one of the biggest engineering projects the capital will see for some time. It becomes a lasting legacy for Her Majesty the Queen in her 90th year and as she has become the country’s longest reigning monarch. Meanwhile, a train line has just gained iconic status overnight and on a global scale," he told PRWeek.
"What’s more, the media handling of the launch has done a fine job. You couldn’t fail to get coverage for this story. What the team behind it has done, though, is use the news as a hook to deliver the commercial and consumer messages about where the line runs and just how frequently it will do so."
Reaction was also positive outside of London. Adele Wilson, head of strategic planning at Manchester agency Tangerine, said: "The renaming of the Crossrail project as the Elizabeth Line seems a natural and fitting tribute to Britain’s longest reigning monarch. Whether or not Londoners will abbreviate the name, ‘the Liz Line’ perhaps, remains to be seen."
Other PRs, politicians, journalists and public bodies commented on Twitter:
at the first sniff of passenger trouble, Crossrail is just a Sun headline waiting to happen.
— Neil Whyte (@opinionatedneil)
Great decision to name Crossrail the Elizabeth Line. A fitting tribute to our longest-reigning monarch.
— Sadiq Khan MP (@SadiqKhan)
Transport Sec today: very fitting this vital link across our capital will be named the Elizabeth line.
— Dept for Transport (@transportgovuk)
UKIP's response to Crossrail being renamed the Elizabeth Line is peak UKIP.
— Jim Waterson (@jimwaterson)
Other reactions were more light-hearted:
Are we allowed to shorten Elizabeth Line to Liz Line or just 'riding Liz home', or is that treason?
— James Chapple (@chapplejc)
They call it the Elizabeth Line because it costs billions of pounds and will take 70 years before its finished.
— Jason Sinclair (@jlsinc)
Elizabeth Line is good... But this could have been EPIC!
— Radio X (@RadioX)
As brand new Crossrail is named "Elizabeth Line", irregular rail replacement service will be re-branded as "Andrew Buses".
— HaveIGotNewsForYou (@haveigotnews)
What do you think is the best name for the line?
What's the better brand name?
— PRWeek UK (@prweekuknews)
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