TfL Commissioner Andy Byford

Andy Byford, University of Leicester graduate whose thirty-year career has spanned three continents. Andy joined London Underground in 1989 as a uniformed Station Foreman before working his way up to General Manager of the Bakerloo, Central and Victoria Lines. After a spell as Operations and Safety Director of two mainline train operating companies, Andy’s career took him to Sydney as Chief Operating Officer of Australia’s largest railway network then on to Canada where he headed up the Toronto Transit Commission. Most recently, Andy served as President of New York City Transit, the busiest and largest transit system in North America. Andy returned to Transport for London in June 2020 as Commissioner following in Mike Brown’s shoes. Taking the reins at the moment of a pandemic, Andy says: "In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, all transport authorities around the world will need to reimagine how their services and projects contribute to the safe and sustainable re-start of the social and economic lives of the cities they serve," and serve the transport industry he does.

From 25 million packages delivered in 2019 to 60 million packages in 2021, the scaling up of the courier industry has been remarkable especially against the backdrop of a global pandemic.  TfL is redoubling its efforts to regenerate London’s transport links, including the new Elizabeth line, which will only enable couriers to deliver even more parcels across the city.  I am very privileged to join this institute as an honorary fellow, following the footsteps of my predecessors Mike Brown and Peter Hendy.