The Crossrail line which will pass through and under the capital will be named the Elizabeth Line after the Queen.
The line will eventually link Reading and Heathrow to the west of London with Shenfield and Abbey Wood to the east, using a fleet of new 200m-long trains, each with nine walk-through carriages.
The central London segment is due to open in December 2018, with the segment between Liverpool Street station and Shenfield due to open in May next year. The full service to Reading is expected to begin in December 2019.
At a ceremony in the Bond Street station, the Queen unveiled the purple Elizabeth Line logo which will feature across the network. She took an industrial lift to the site 28m underground, where she saw part of the tunnel and met apprentices working on the site.
London Mayor Boris Johnson said Crossrail is “already proving a huge success for the UK economy”. “As well as radically improving travel right across our city, the Elizabeth Line will provide a lasting tribute to our longest-serving monarch,” he added.
The Queen opened the Victoria Line in 1969, becoming the first reigning monarch to travel on the Tube.
In 1977, the Jubilee line was opened by the Prince of Wales and was named to mark 25 years since the Queen’s accession to the throne.