Peter Gerard Hendy, Baron Hendy of Richmond Hill (born 19 March 1953) is a British transport executive and politician. He is the current chairman of

Network Rail Network Rail Limited is the owner (via its subsidiary Network Rail Infrastructure Limited, which was known as Railtrack plc before 2002) and infrastructure manager of most of the railway network in Great Britain. Network Rail is an "arm's leng ...

and was formerly the

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to in ...

of Transport for London.

Education

Hendy was educated at

Latymer Upper School (Slowly Therefore Surely) , established = , closed = , sister_school = Godolphin and Latymer School , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , head_label = H ...

and the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

, where he graduated in Economics and Geography in 1975.

Career

London Transport

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

First Bus

He led the company through a

management buyout A management buyout (MBO) is a form of acquisition in which a company's existing managers acquire a large part, or all, of the company, whether from a parent company or individual. Management-, and/or leveraged buyout became noted phenomena of 1 ...

with staff involvement, and subsequent expansion. After the takeover of CentreWest by

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Transport for London (TfL), under

Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of London from the creation of the office i ...

's mayoralty of London. On 1 February 2006, he took up the position of

Commissioner of Transport for London The Commissioner of Transport for London has management responsibility for Transport for London (TfL) and hence for the transport system throughout the City of London and Greater London in the United Kingdom. TfL is controlled by a board whose ...

. He continued in post after the election of

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

as Mayor of London in 2008.

Network Rail

In July 2015 he was appointed chair of

by the then Secretary of State for Transport,

Patrick McLoughlin Patrick Allen McLoughlin, Baron McLoughlin, (born 30 November 1957) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, he first became the Member of Parliament (MP) for West Derbyshire following the 1986 by-election. The constituen ...

London Legacy Development Corporation

In July 2017 he was appointed chair of the

London Legacy Development Corporation The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) is an organisation established in 2012, replacing the Olympic Park Legacy Company. It was formed as a mayoral development corporation under the powers of the Localism Act 2011. The ''mayoral develo ...

, by the Mayor of London

Sadiq Khan Sadiq Aman Khan (; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting from 2005 until 2016. A member of the Labour Party, Khan is on the party's sof ...

, which is developing the

Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is a sporting complex and public park in Stratford, Hackney Wick, Leyton and Bow, in east London. It was purpose-built for the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, situated adjacent to the Stratford City developm ...

Science Museum Group

In July 2019 he was appointed by the then Prime Minister

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...

as a trustee of the

Science Museum Group The Science Museum Group (SMG) consists of five British museums: * The Science Museum in South Kensington, London * The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester * The National Railway Museum in York * The Locomotion Museum (formerly the Natio ...

which incorporates the

National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum is a museum in York forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historically significant r ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

London Transport Museum

Hendy is also an independent trustee of the

London Transport Museum The London Transport Museum (often abbreviated as the LTM) is a transport museum based in Covent Garden, London. The museum predominantly hosts exhibits relating to the heritage of London's transport, as well as conserving and explaining the h ...

Union Connectivity Review

He was appointed chair of the Union Connectivity Review. It was announced on 30 June 2020 and the terms of reference were published 3 October 2020. It was published November 2021.

Honours

Hendy was appointed

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(CBE) in the 2006 New Year Honours "for services to Public Transport and to the community in London." Following the successful operation of transport during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games he was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

for services to transport and the community in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Hon ...

. Hendy was given an Award of Doctor of Science ''

honoris causa An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

'' by

City University London City, University of London, is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, and a member institution of the federal University of London. It was founded in 1894 as the Northampton Institute, and became a university when The City Univ ...

in 2010, an honorary Doctor of Engineering by the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

in 2014, an honorary Doctor of Laws by the

in 2015 and an honorary Doctor of Letters by

Queen Mary University , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...

London in 2018. It was announced on 14 October 2022, that as part of the 2022 Special Honours, Hendy would receive a life peerage. On 17 November 2022, Hendy was created Baron Hendy of Richmond Hill, ''of

Imber Imber is an uninhabited village within the British Army's training area on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, England. It lies in an isolated area of the Plain, about west of the A360 road between Tilshead and West Lavington. A linear village, i ...

in the County of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

''.

Personal life

Hendy is the younger son of Jack Hendy and

the Honourable ''The Honourable'' (British English) or ''The Honorable'' (American English; see spelling differences) (abbreviation: ''Hon.'', ''Hon'ble'', or variations) is an honorific style that is used as a prefix before the names or titles of certain ...

Mary Best, youngest daughter of Philip George Best, 6th Baron Wynford. He is married to Sue Pendle, a

human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include m ...

consultant; the couple, who live in

Richmond, London Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commiss ...

have two children. His brother is John Hendy, Baron Hendy KC. Hendy owns two roadworthy London

AEC Routemaster The AEC Routemaster is a Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout, front-engined double-decker bus that was designed by London Transport Executive, London Transport and built by the Associated Equipment Company (AEC) and Park Royal Vehicles. The ...

buses. He is organiser of the 23A scheduled bus service which runs once a year to the isolated and abandoned Wiltshire village of

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. He and Leon Daniels OBE also own a 1949 Leyland Titan, RTW 467, London Transport.

References

External links

Official Network Rail web page of Board membersAppointment as Commissioner of Transport
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hendy, Peter 1953 births Living people Alumni of the University of Leeds Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Crossbench life peers Knights Bachelor People associated with transport in London People educated at Latymer Upper School People from London People in bus transport Place of birth missing (living people) Life peers created by Charles III