Six London transport workers are being recognised as part of this year’s King’s Birthday Honours.

Current employees at Transport for London (TfL) – Monica Cooney, Winsome Hull, Howard Smith and Christian Van der Nest – as well as former employees Gareth Powell and Sharon Young – are all receiving recognition for the difference they’ve made to the capital.

Howard Smith, the Director of the Elizabeth line who lives in Richmond, and has worked at TfL for 25 years, is being recognised with an OBE for his service to the Elizabeth line and transport in London. A Londoner who has also worked on the DLR, the London Overground and 2012 Games, Howard’s vision and dedication to the Elizabeth line shone through when the railway opened on 24 May 2022. A year after opening, the Elizabeth line has transformed travel across London and has already seen more than 155 million customer journeys made so far, with more than 600,000 journeys now being made each weekday.

Christian Van Der Nest, TfL’s Resilience and Partnership Lead who lives in Surrey and has worked at TfL for more than 17 years, is being recognised with an OBE for services to the State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and transport in London. Christian’s immense dedication and skilful planning was instrumental in ensuring that the State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II – one of the largest, most complex events London has ever experienced – took place successfully. His passion and knowledge meant that he was able to build vital relationships both internally and externally and work collaboratively with partner agencies to ensure a successful operation and swiftly resolve any issues that arose.

Monica Cooney, Head of Control Centre Operations at TfL who lives in Surrey and has worked at TfL for more than 17 years, also played a vital role and she is being recognised with an MBE for services to the State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and transport in London. Monica oversees TfL’s Network Management Control Centre, which was established as the core of the London operation for the event. Her determination and leadership were critical to the efficient and effective working between multiple agencies, including those from various Government departments, the Emergency Services and London boroughs. Despite the complex nature of the event, she also maintained a special focus on wellbeing and morale – not only of her own team, but also those at other agencies working in the control centre.

Winsome Hull, a Senior Business Strategy Manager at TfL who lives in Lewisham and worked at TfL for 15 years, has been recognised with a BEM for service to diversity and inclusion as well as transport in London. She has been a driving force within the organisation to make it a more inclusive place to work. Her courage and determination in sharing her own experiences has acted as a catalyst for others to talk about theirs, enabling greater cultural and racial understanding and empathy. This was in part through her work on the ‘Inspire a Fairer Future’ programme, a series of listening sessions for people to tell their stories within TfL, as well as her contribution to TfL’s Anti-Racism Leadership Charter, which she has helped to embed within the organisation. Winsome is also a London Transport Museum trustee and played a vital role in shaping the museum’s Legacies exhibition, which shares the stories of Caribbean people who have shaped London’s transport history and culture.

Sharon Young, formerly a Principal Project Engineer at TfL who lives in Bexley and worked at TfL for almost 20 years, is also being recognised for her service to the Elizabeth line and transport in London with an MBE. One of the most widely respected women in the UK’s transport engineering industry, she played a key role in ensuring the successful completion of Bond Street station on the Elizabeth line – a complex engineering challenge – while continuing to champion and inspire more women to join the sector.

Gareth Powell, formerly Chief Customer and Strategy Officer at TfL has been recognised with an OBE for his service to transport in London. He worked at TfL for nearly 20 years and played a pivotal role in a wide array of projects, such as the decarbonisation of London’s bus fleet, improvements to road safety as well as cycling and walking facilities, the transformation of outer London rail networks into the London Overground, deputising for the Commissioner and helping to agree a sustainable funding settlement with the Government following the pandemic.

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “London’s transport workers have given so much to our great city so I am delighted that Howard, Sharon, Christian, Monica, Winsome and Gareth’s enormous contributions have been recognised in this year’s King’s Birthday Honours. In a year where the eyes of the world have once more been on London, their expertise and hard work have helped ensure the smooth running of the capital for Londoners and visitors to our city.”

Andy Lord, London’s Transport Commissioner, said: “My congratulations go to Howard, Christian, Monica, Winsome, Sharon and Gareth, who are having their hard work and dedication recognised in this year’s King’s Birthday Honours. Our capital has faced some of its biggest challenges and opportunities over the past few years and it is because of the efforts of colleagues such as those being recognised that we are able to make a difference to those living, working and travelling in London.”

Howard Smith, Director of the Elizabeth line, said: “I am thrilled to be receiving this honour and it has been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work on and open the Elizabeth line, which has transformed the capital. The opening and now everyday operation of the Elizabeth line is a testament to all of the different people who worked and pulled together to make it possible – a true team effort. More than 155 million journeys have already taken place on the line and we look forward to even more people getting on board, as they make their way across the capital.”

Christian Van Der Nest, Resilience and Partnership at TfL, said: “It is an honour to be recognised as part of this list and to have also been part of the team that successfully enabled the smooth-running of such a momentous and poignant event. While the world had its eyes on London, through collaboration and careful planning, we were able to make sure that everybody could focus on the occasion itself.”

Monica Cooney, Head of Control Centre Operations at TfL, said: “It is hugely touching to have received this recognition for the work undertaken to ensure that the State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was able to take place successfully. I am incredibly proud of the team that I worked with as part of this and that together we were able to keep morale strong while dealing with an incredibly complex challenge.”

Winsome Hull, Senior Business Strategy Manager at TfL, said: “I am delighted to be part of the Birthday Honours list this year. Now more than ever, it is important that we continue to focus on making our organisation, London and society as a whole a more inclusive and kind place for everybody. We need to recognise the brilliant variety of contributions that we can all make to improve London so that it’s a better place to live, work and travel in.”