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

[11] During 2014, Hendy reportedly spent over £1,200 in taxpayer-provided money on lunches and dinners, including on one occasion more than £90 in alcohol.

[14] In July 2015 he was appointed chair of Network Rail by the then Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin.

Dennis characterized the station's design as "unsafe", a claim supported by an improvement notice from the Office of Rail and Road regarding passenger safety.

[17][18][19] Hendy insisted SYSTRA take action against Dennis, threatening to withhold public contracts from the company.

[22] On 8 July 2024 he was appointed to Keir Starmer's new Labour government as a minister of state in the Department for Transport, thereby leaving his role as chairman of Network Rail.

[31] 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.

[35] Hendy is married to Sue Pendle, a human resources consultant; the couple, who live in Richmond, London, have two children.

He is part of the group of organisers of Imberbus,[36] the 23A scheduled bus service that runs once a year, to raise money for charity, 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.

[37] In 2013, Peter Hendy, who was then the Commissioner of Transport for London, was accused of engaging in a nine-month affair with a call girl (prostitute).