Andy Byford

Andy Byford (born 1965) is the Chief Executive Officer of the Toronto Transit Commission.

Biography

Early life

Byford grew up in Plymouth, United Kingdom and graduated with double honours in French and German at the University of Leicester.^[1]

Career

He worked as a line foreman in the London Underground from 1989, group station manager of King’s Cross station and later general manager of customer services on a number of tube lines.^[2] Byford then moved to main line railway operations, becoming Operations and Safety Director for South Eastern Trains from 2003 to 2006 and subsequently Operations Director for sister company Southern Railway from 2006 to 2009. He was then approached to become Chief Operating Officer with Railcorp of New South Wales, Australia. From there, Byford was hired for the same role with the TTC in November 2011.^[2] Following the firing of Gary Webster, Byford became interim Chief General Manager. In March 2012, Byford was promoted as CGM and his role was renamed as CEO.^[1]

As CEO, Byford has launched a five-year Corporate Plan to modernise all aspects of the TTC's operations.

Byford serves on the Board of Directors of the American Passenger Transit Association (APTA). In June 2014, Byford was invited to serve on the Governor of New York's MTA Transportation Reinvention Commission to review the MTA's capital program, specifically its operations and maintenance practices.

Personal life

Byford is married to his Canadian-born wife Alison (m. 1994 in Ottawa) and lives in downtown Toronto. He does not own a car, using the TTC for both personal and professional travel, along with a car-sharing program.^[3] Byford's grandfather was a bus driver for London Transport.^[4] Byford commutes to TTC headquarters by transit. Byford has retained his British citizenship since his departure from England. He is a lifelong supporter of Plymouth Argyle Football Club.

Byford is a non-executive director of Viable Plymouth Limited, the company set up to reopen Plymouth City Airport and resume commercial flights from the city.

References