Customers travelling on the network will get the chance to hear 21 famous names including Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Terry Wogan and Joanna Lumley voice announcements at 70 Underground stations, 11 Network Rail mainline stations and on all London buses.
The Band of the Queen’s Division will be performing throughout the day at Victoria and Liverpool Street stations, while the Countess of Wessex’s Strings Orchestra will entertain in the Square Mile Business District at lunchtime. Buskers, choirs and bands, including X Factor runners-up Rough Copy, will also be performing to raise funds for the campaign.
To further mark the occasion, TfL has created a special poppy design that will decorate two tube trains, a London Overground train and ten London buses. Two, 3D poppy bus shelters located outside the Royal Albert Hall and South Kensington Underground station have also been commissioned, while many mainline and Underground stations have been decorated in special poppy livery.
Outside the rail network, Covent Garden Piazza will be hosting a range of events, including a Red Arrows flight simulator, a pop-up Poppy Shop and performances from Britain’s Got Talent runners-up Lucy Kay and Jonathan Antoine and the RAF Spitfires Choir.
Sir Peter Hendy, London’s transport commissioner, said: "People living and working in London will see our specially wrapped trains and buses displaying the poppy design, in honour of the 4,500 transport workers who gave their lives in both World Wars and other conflicts. This could not have been done without the support of our sponsors and celebrities and I would like to thank them for helping us mark London Poppy Day and raise awareness of a great cause."
Charles Byrne, director of fundraising at The Royal British Legion, added: "Our transport partners play a vital role in the success of London Poppy Day and we are very grateful for their ongoing support. Londoners will see stations and streets flooded with uniformed personnel collecting across the transport network all the way from Heathrow across to the Docklands supported by activities throughout the day. This will be the ninth annual London Poppy Day and we’re asking Londoners to dig deep and help make it the most successful one yet."
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