Peter Hendy

British transport executive (born 1953)

The Right Honourable
The Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill
Hendy in 2024
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office
17 November 2022
Life peerage
Commissioner of Transport for London
In office
1 February 2006 – 24 September 2015
Preceded byRobert Kiley
Succeeded byMike Brown
Personal details
Born
Peter Gerard Hendy

(1953-03-19) 19 March 1953 (age 71)
NationalityBritish
Political partyCrossbench
OccupationManaging Director, CentreWest: (1994–1997)
Deputy Director, FirstGroup: (1997–2001)
Commissioner of Transport for London: (2006–2015)
Chairman, Network Rail (2015–present)

Peter Gerard Hendy, Baron Hendy of Richmond Hill, CBE (born 19 March 1953), is a British transport executive and politician. He is the current chairman of Network Rail and was formerly the Commissioner of Transport for London.

Education

Hendy was educated at Latymer Upper School[citation needed] and the University of Leeds, where he graduated in Economics and Geography in 1975.[1]

Career

Transport for London's Commissioner, Peter Hendy and Revd James Westcott of St Chad's Church

London Transport

Hendy started his career in the public transport industry in 1975 as a London Transport graduate trainee.[2] He moved up the career ladder, eventually taking on the role of managing director of CentreWest London Buses Ltd in 1989, managing it under London Transport ownership.[2]

First Bus

In 1994, he led CentreWest through a management buyout with staff involvement, and subsequent expansion. After the takeover of CentreWest by FirstGroup in 1997, Hendy became Deputy Director UK Bus for FirstGroup, responsible for bus operations in London and southern England, bus development, and the operation of Croydon Tramlink.[2][3] He also became a director of New World First Bus in Hong Kong.[2][3]

Transport for London

In 2001, he was appointed to the position of managing director of Surface Transport for Transport for London (TfL), under Ken Livingstone's mayoralty of London.[2] During this period, bus ridership in London grew substantially.[4] On 1 February 2006, he took up the position of Commissioner of Transport for London.[3] He continued in post after the election of Boris Johnson as Mayor of London in 2008.

During the London 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games, Hendy chaired the 2012 Games Transport Board, which worked with LOCOG, transport operators, local authorities and others to ensure transportation of athletes, officials, staff, media and spectators across London.[2] He was subsequently knighted for his work at the Games.[5]

In July 2015, Hendy left the position of Commissioner, replaced on an interim basis by Mike Brown (the Managing Director of London Underground and London Rail).[6]

Network Rail

In July 2015 he was appointed chair of Network Rail by the then Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin.[7] In June 2023, he was reappointed to the role to serve for a further two years.[8]

Other appointments

Between 2013 and 2015, Hendy was the chairman of International Association of Public Transport.[9]

In July 2017 he was appointed chair of the London Legacy Development Corporation, by the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, which is developing the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.[10]

In July 2019 he was appointed by the then Prime Minister Theresa May as a trustee of the Science Museum Group which incorporates the National Railway Museum in York.[9] Hendy is also an independent trustee of the London Transport Museum.[11] In March 2023, Hendy was appointed chairman of the Heritage Railway Association.[11]

In June 2020, he was appointed chair of the Union Connectivity Review. The terms of reference were published 3 October 2020.[12] It was published November 2021.[13]

Honours

Insignia of Knight Bachelor

Hendy was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2006 New Year Honours "for services to Public Transport and to the community in London."[14] Following the successful operation of transport during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games he was knighted for services to transport and the community in the 2013 New Year Honours.[5][15] Hendy was given an Award of Doctor of Science honoris causa by City University London in 2010, an honorary Doctor of Engineering by the University of Bath in 2014, an honorary Doctor of Laws by the University of Leeds in 2015 and an honorary Doctor of Letters by Queen Mary University London in 2018.

It was announced on 14 October 2022, that as part of the 2022 Special Honours, Hendy would receive a life peerage.[16] On 17 November 2022, Hendy was created Baron Hendy of Richmond Hill, of Imber in the County of Wiltshire.[17]

Personal life

Sir Peter Hendy's RM1005 on Route 188, at Canada Water.

Hendy is the younger son of Jack Hendy and the Honourable Mary Best, youngest daughter of Philip George Best, 6th Baron Wynford.[18] He is married to Sue Pendle, a human resources consultant; the couple, who live in Richmond, London have two children. His brother is John Hendy, Baron Hendy KC.

Hendy owns two roadworthy London AEC Routemaster buses. He is organiser of the 23A scheduled bus service which runs once a year to the isolated and abandoned Wiltshire village of Imber which is surrounded by military firing ranges on Salisbury Plain and is normally closed to the public. In 2019, 28 double-decker buses operated the route at 15-minute intervals from Warminster station.[19]

References

  1. ^ "Peter Hendy addresses Leeds Business School Alumni". Leeds University Business School. 9 June 2011. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Sir Peter Hendy CBE – Biography" (PDF). International Association of Public Transport. 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Milmo, Dan (6 July 2007). "Former conductor keeps London's wheels turning". The Guardian.
  4. ^ "Londons bus improvements get Parliamentary seal of approval". Transport for London. 23 May 2006. Retrieved 18 August 2022. London has seen bus usage increase by 40 per cent since 2000/01 while elsewhere in England bus usage has fallen by seven per cent.
  5. ^ a b "Knights Bachelor" (PDF). Cabinet Office. 29 December 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2012.
  6. ^ "Mike Brown appointed new commissioner of Transport for London". BBC News. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  7. ^ Crerar, Pippa (24 December 2015). "Sir Peter Hendy: 'We need to pay rail bosses by performance'". Evening Standard. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  8. ^ "Peter, Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill, reappointed as Chair of Network Rail". GOV.UK. 8 June 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Prime Minister appoints eight new Trustees to the Board of the Science Museum Group | Science Museum". www.sciencemuseum.org.uk. 24 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  10. ^ "Our board". Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  11. ^ a b "Lord Hendy becomes heritage railway chair". RailBusinessDaily. 20 March 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  12. ^ "Union connectivity review: terms of reference". GOV.UK. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  13. ^ "Union connectivity review: setting a four-nations approach to cross-border transport investment". CBI. Retrieved 29 November 2021.
  14. ^ United Kingdom:"No. 57855". The London Gazette (1st supplement). 31 December 2005. p. 8.
  15. ^ "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 1.
  16. ^ "Political Peerages 2022". GOV.UK. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 15 October 2022.
  17. ^ "Crown Office | The Gazette". www.thegazette.co.uk. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  18. ^ Profile, burkespeerage.com. Accessed 20 January 2023.
  19. ^ Baker, John (12 August 2019). "Buses will go to the deserted village of Imber on Salisbury Plain". Gazette and Herald. Retrieved 15 October 2022.

External links

  • Official Network Rail web page of Board members
  • Appointment as Commissioner of Transport
  • Interview with 'The Guardian' on his first day as Commissioner of Transport
Civic offices
Preceded by Commissioner of Transport for London
2006–2015
Succeeded by
Mike Brown
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by Gentlemen
Baron Hendy of Richmond Hill
Followed by
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