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Crowning glory for TfL Coronation bus wraps

Transport for London (TfL) marked the historic Coronation of King Charles III by wrapping a number of its buses in the lead up to the celebrations in the English capital.

May 10 2023
By Rob Fletcher
Category Feature

Transport for London (TfL) marked the historic Coronation of King Charles III by wrapping a number of its buses in the lead up to the celebrations in the English capital.
 
King Charles III was crowned on 6 May in front of an audience of hundreds of millions all around the world, including hundreds of thousands of spectators that lined the streets of London in the hope of catching a glimpse of Great Britain’s first new monarch in over 70 years.
 
Retailers, brands, organisations and all sorts of groups ran special projects to celebrate the occasion, with all manner of colourful and creative campaigns being rolled out during the weeks before the Coronation.

Caption: The newly wrapped buses cross Westminster Bridge ahead of the Coronation weekend

One campaign that caught the eye of the team here at the World Wrap Masters was from TfL, which has become something of an expert in special initiatives based on redecorating vehicles from their network to mark certain events.
 
Five buses were transformed with commemorative wraps in four different colours: red, dark blue, cyan and pink. Each bus was commissioned to routes that took in some iconic central London locations linked to the Royal Family including Horse Guards Parade and Westminster Abbey, and Royal Parks like Hyde Park.
 
The wraps were funded by operators Metroline, Stagecoach, Go Ahead, RATP and Abellio, with the new-look buses having entered service at the end of April.
 
Aside from buses, TfL applied special commemorative wraps to 20 of its Santander Cycles rentable bikes across London, including two e-bikes. TfL also offered customers a free, 30-minute cycle-ride over the Coronation weekend. 

Network of celebration

The special wraps formed part of a wider project at TfL to celebrate the Coronation, which also included installing crowns bearing the likeness of the Coronation St Edward’s Crown on the top of three bus shelters on Oxford Street.
 
A crown was also added to the iconic TfL roundel logo at Tube stations around the event area, as well as at some Elizabeth line and London Overground stations, and key interchange stations in central London.
 
In addition, a commemorative poster paying homage to the one created in 1953 to celebrate the Coronation of Elizabeth II was displayed across the transport network. The poster design featured the crown and the TfL Roundel, which was reimagined using the colours of all TfL services and Underground lines from across the entire network.

Caption: The project included installing commemorative wraps in four different colours: red, dark blue, cyan and pink
 
Speaking ahead of the Coronation weekend, Andy Lord, London’s Transport Commissioner, said: “Celebrations are getting underway on the transport network as we prepare to host and look after people from across the world as they come to London for the Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
 
“We are excited to welcome everyone onto our services, and customers will be able to enjoy specially designed “Crowndels”, commemorative posters and special wraps on buses and Santander Cycles as they get around the capital during the festivities. 
 
“Public transport remains the best way to travel in London during the Coronation weekend and is at the heart of making this historic occasion a success, just like it did when London saw the 1953 Coronation of Elizabeth II.”
 
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, added: “I’m incredibly excited that the eyes of the world are on London once again as Their Majesties are crowned, showing our capital city in all of its glory.
 
“These celebratory “Crowndels” and decorations will get Londoners and visitors into the spirit of this historic event as they come together to celebrate the Coronation.”

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