Two South Western Railway (SWR) colleagues were awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the New Year Honours List.

Chico Coulibaly, SWR’s Regional Manager based at Waterloo and Sam Camfield, Design Manager received their awards for their work during Operation London Bridge following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Operation London Bridge required much cross-team work to accommodate the many thousands of extra passengers travelling to and from London and Windsor.

Chico Coulibaly is the Regional Manager at Waterloo and was a major part of the organisation for Operation London Bridge. He worked with Network Rail and management teams to ensure that Waterloo would be a safe and welcoming environment for the many thousands travelling into London for the Lying-in-State and the State Funeral.

Chico worked above and beyond the call of duty, including many night shifts, to ensure customers and colleagues were supported throughout. He was part of the team that developed the Waterloo Event plan to cater for all possible eventualities that could happen during the days up to and including the funeral.
On the day of the funeral, a major power failure caused the closure of the Reading to Paddington line, so thousands of extra customers were diverted to SWR services from Reading to Waterloo, with the huge task of managing the many thousands of extra people being overseen by Chico.

Chico says: “I feel truly privileged and incredibly humbled to be recognised by His Majesty the King in the New Year Honours List. I would especially like to thank the teams who have worked alongside me (NR/SWR) because without such great people, many of these achievements would not have been possible. It was a very big team who worked exceptionally hard to ensure that Waterloo was prepared to welcome all the thousands of people who came to pay their respects to Her Majesty, and they are all to be congratulated as well.”

Sam Camfield is SWR’s Design Manager and with the members of the Marketing Team was responsible for developing the entire visual suite of materials displayed across all SWR channels. What people would see on the SWR website, social media platforms, or at SWR stations was very important.

As Design Manager, Sam was responsible for ensuring that all SWR channels, digital platforms and stations were respectful to the late Queen, often worked late to meet tight deadlines and ensure that printing and distribution were on time and everything was in place when needed.

Great attention was paid to Windsor & Eton Riverside station, which was decorated appropriately for the occasion, such as hanging special banners on the railings alongside the platforms, hiding the car park from view, and special hoardings to improve the view for people moving in and out of the station. The station’s decor received particular praise from stakeholders, especially from Sam and his colleagues based at the station.

Sam says: “I am delighted to have been nominated in the New Year Honours list for my part in making sure that South Western Railway’s stations honoured Her Majesty and for dressing Windsor and Eton Riverside station for the State Funeral. It was a major team effort, and everybody involved should be proud of themselves.”

Claire Mann, SWR’s Managing Director, added: “Our response to the death of Her Late Majesty The Queen was truly a team effort, and I’m really proud of the way SWR colleagues pulled together to both honour her memory, and deliver for our customers, at such a momentous period in our nation’s history.

“I’m delighted that the hard work of Chico and Sam in helping us to deliver our response has been recognised by His Majesty in the 2024 New Year Honours List. I would like to congratulate them on their British Empire Medals on behalf of everyone here at South Western Railway.”