The Department for Transport has confirmed the appointment of Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill CBE as a Minister of State in the Department for Transport.
Lord Hendy has been Chairman of Network Rail since July 2015, and was reappointed for a further two years in the role last June. He was previously the Commissioner of Transport for London from February 2006 until his switch to Network Rail.
His appointment comes days after new Prime Minister Keir Starmer appointed Louise Haigh as the Secretary of State for Transport.
Ms Haigh retained her Sheffield Heeley seat in last week’s General Election, which she has held since 2015.
She served as Shadow Secretary of State for Transport from November 2021 until last week’s election, having previously served for over a year as Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
In April, Haigh announced Labour’s plans to renationalise the British rail network: “Labour will sweep away the broken model and bring private operators into public ownership as their contracts expire.
“We will establish Great British Railways, a single directing mind to control our railways in the passenger interest.”
She also said that a Labour Government will introduce a new passenger watchdog holding Great British Railways to account in terms of performance and quality of service.
Labour pledged in its election manifesto to deliver a ten-year infrastructure strategy aligned with its regional development priorities, which include improving rail connectivity across northern England.
The new Government will also look to establish a National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, bringing together existing bodies to set strategic infrastructure priorities.
Image credit: UK Parliament
