King’s Birthday Honour is crowning glory of GWR colleague’s railway career

Alison Hanscomb, station manager at Slough for the past 11 years before taking on a new role last month, is granted a British Empire Medal for meritorious service.

In 2017 she had the honour of welcoming Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh to Slough station as GWR recreated Queen Victoria’s historic first Royal train journey to London Paddington in 1842.

Alison also helped oversee operational plans as GWR welcomed thousands of Royal fans flocking to Windsor for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in 2018.

And last year she was at the heart of GWR’s involvement in Operation London Bridge, the funeral plan devised for Queen Elizabeth II.

GWR Managing Director Mark Hopwood CBE said:

“Alison is a great example of the type of person who makes Great Western Railway so special. She joined the railway straight from school at 16 and has dedicated all her working life to GWR and its predecessors.

“She has supported a number of events involving the Royal Family, as well as heading up the team at Slough for such a considerable time. She has just taken up a new role within the business so it’s a great time for her to be awarded a British Empire Medal.

“We’re delighted that she joins a small number of colleagues who have been recognised in this way.”

Alison, who is now part of a GWR team helping to monitor and improve train service performance, said:

“I still can’t quite believe this is meant for me. When I saw the letter headed ‘His Majesty’s Service’ all I could think was how nice the paper was. Then I read I was receiving a British Empire Medal… it still doesn’t make any sense!

“It’s very humbling and I must say a huge thanks to my colleagues at GWR. There’s a lot of planning that goes into events involving the Royal Family and I’ve always had the assistance of really, really good people.”

Alison has held numerous posts in a railway career spanning almost 30 years, having joined Thames Trains as a trainee, and, after a short stint at Network Rail, returning to the Greater Western franchise.

She was station manager at Slough between 2005-2009, and after a short spell as station manager at Paddington, returned as station manager at Slough in 2012 – a position she held for the next 11 years.

Last month she switched to the GWR performance team, focusing on how to improve the performance of train services and finding solutions to improve reliability and punctuality.

Last year Bex Hartley, Charlotte Murray and Matt Cambourne were awarded British Empire Medals for helping to lead GWR’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Head of Public Affairs, Jane Jones, also received an MBE for her years of dedicated service to the railway, receiving her honour from Princess Royal at Windsor Castle on Wednesday.