A new rail line under London is to be named in honor of Queen Elizabeth II.

Developers say the project known as Crosssrail will be named the Elizabeth Line when it opens in December 2018. When it is finished, the line will run for more than 60 miles (100 kilometers) from east to west, including a 13-mile (21-kilometer) underground stretch through London.

The monarch, who turns 90 in April, unveiled a sign with the purple “Elizabeth Line” logo on a visit to a Crossrail tunnel on Tuesday.

Several London transit lines already have royal connections. The Jubilee subway line was named in honor of Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee marking 25 years on the throne in 1977, while the Victoria Line and Victoria railway station are named after Queen Victoria.

The announcement was made by London Mayor Boris Johnson as the Queen visited the construction site at Bond Street station.

Her Majesty is often spotted catching the train at King’s Cross when returning to her country estate in Sandringham at Christmas. She unveiled the purple Elizabeth line logo which will feature across the network, in an Angela Kelly lilac wool crepe dress with matching coat and hat for the occasion. After greeting representatives, The Queen was taken in an industrial lift to the site 92ft below ground, where she viewed part of the railway tunnel and met construction apprentices dressed in bright orange jackets and trousers.

source: dailymail.co.uk

One of London’s most famous icons has had its 60th anniversary celebrated with its very own Google Doodle.

The world famous Routemaster bus has been immortalised in animated form by the search engine to commemorate 60 years on the streets of the capital. They first hit our roads in 1954, and quickly became synonymous with London.

Although they were briefly retired in 2005, the beloved buses were redesigned by Thomas Heatherwick and were relaunched as the New Routemaster in 2012. They differ from other London buses as they allow passengers to get on or alight at both the front and the back.

www.metro.co.uk

icon – jelkép
anniversary – évforduló
to be immortalised – halhatatlanná teszik
search engine – internetes kereső
to hit the road – elindulni
to become synonymous with – teljesen összefonódik valamivel
although – habár
to be retired – bevonják
to redesign – újratervezni
to relaunch – újraindítani
to differ from – különbözni
to alight – leszállni

Match the words with the definitions in the table.

answers: 1-c 2-e 3-a 4-b 5-d