Early career

He started work as a graduate trainee for London Underground in 1989, before progressing through a number of operational roles including duty station manager in 1992, group station manager for King's Cross St Pancras Group in 1994, station operations manager for the Jubilee Line Extension in 1996, and train service delivery manager for the Metropolitan, Circle, and Hammersmith & City lines in 1998 before becoming general manager for Customer Service on the Bakerloo, Central, and Victoria lines in 2000.^[5][6]

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 Southern Railway from 2006 to 2009. He was then approached to become chief operating officer with RailCorp in New South Wales, Australia.^[6]

Toronto Transit Commission

Byford was hired by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in November 2011.^[7] Following the firing of Gary Webster, Byford became interim chief general manager (CGM). In March 2012, Byford was promoted as CGM and his role was renamed as CEO.^[4]

Byford launched a Five-Year Corporate Plan^[8] in 2013 to "modernize the TTC", "transform our culture", "renew our equipment", and "update our processes" with a goal to "transform the TTC and deliver on our vision of a transit system that makes Toronto proud".^[9] This ambition was realized in June 2017 when the TTC was awarded the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) award for the 2017 Outstanding Transit System of the Year.^[10] In reaction to the award, Torontonians noted their experience of frequent delays and overcrowding, and members of an transit advocacy group mocked the award, given the underfunding of the TTC.^[11]

Byford was named Toronto's Communicator of the Year (2016) by the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) in March 2017.^[12]

Boards, commissions, and panels

In June 2014, Byford was invited to serve on New York governor Andrew Cuomo's MTA Transportation Reinvention Commission to review the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) capital program, and its operations and maintenance practices in particular.^[13][14]

In 2015, Byford served on an APTA panel that reviewed the Boston-area Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's handling of winter operations.^{[citation needed]}

In June 2016, Byford served on an international transit CEO panel convened by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments to advise the Washington Metro on best practice as it relates to funding, governance and operations.^[15] In June 2017, Byford was invited to present best practice to New York governor Cuomo's Genius Transit Challenge conference, as part of a panel of international experts.^{[citation needed]}

In May 2020, Byford served on a Ministerial Advisory Council to advise the Government of Ontario on COVID-19 recovery, as it pertains to mass transit.^{[citation needed]}

A member of the Institution of Railway Operators, Byford is the chair of FlyPlymouth, the company set up to reopen Plymouth City Airport and resume commercial flights from the city.^{[citation needed]}

New York City Transit Authority

On 21 November 2017, Byford announced he would leave the Toronto Transit Commission in mid-December 2017 to become president of the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA), where he would lead the modernization of its subway system.^[14][16] His appointment came in the midst of the 2017 New York City transit crisis, a few days after The New York Times published an in-depth investigative report chronicling decades of mismanagement and under-investment by the MTA.^[17][18] Byford was the second person to have headed both the TTC and the NYCTA, after David L. Gunn. He was also the first non-American director of the New York City Transit Authority.

Within the first few months on the job, Byford was devising long-term plans for the bus and subway systems.^[19] At an MTA board meeting in May 2018, he announced the "Fast Forward" program. This included plans to upgrade signals on the subway system's five most heavily used physical lines; making 50 extra stations ADA-accessible; and installing an automatic train supervision system for routes that did not already have it, which would help monitor train locations.^[20] Byford's May 2018 proposal also included suggestions to improve the bus system by redrawing local and express bus network in all five boroughs, as well as implementing the contactless OMNY fare system.^[21] These reforms earned Byford popularity among New Yorkers, with some giving him the nickname "Train Daddy".^[22]

As part of state legislation passed in April 2019, the MTA was supposed to create a plan to reduce costs by the end of that June. A draft of the plan indicated that several departments would be eliminated, undermining Byford's role.^[23]

Byford submitted a letter of resignation to the NYCTA in October 2019, but quickly rescinded it.^[24][25] On 23 January 2020, he officially resigned from his position, which took effect on 21 February 2020.^[26][27][28] News reports suggested that the cause was the "clashes" he had with Governor Andrew Cuomo over several issues, most recently a reduction in his authority.^[29] The Guardian wrote: "the final straw may have come after Cuomo reorganized the MTA, the state transport body, stripping Byford of some responsibilities. In his resignation letter, Byford referenced his 'reduced' role."^[30] The New York Times said that the "Byford–Cuomo estrangement was highly unusual", since New York state governors and MTA chiefs had previously interacted very little prior to the mid-2010s.^[31] Byford was replaced by interim president Sarah Feinberg.^[32]

Transport for London

In May 2020, Byford was appointed commissioner of Transport for London by the Transport for London (TfL) board and the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.^[6] He replaced Mike Brown, making him London's most senior transport official.^[33] Byford received a base salary of £355,000, the same salary as the two previous commissioners.^[6] During his tenure as TfL commissioner, the agency negotiated a funding deal with the government to guarantee revenue through 2024 as it continued to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.^[34] Byford also oversaw the completion of the long-awaited Elizabeth Line, an east–west line directly connecting London suburbs with the core of the city – an achievement which he said was "without doubt, the highlight of my career".^[35] In September 2022, Byford resigned as TfL commissioner, citing a desire to return to the U.S. and spend more time with his family.^[36] Byford left the position in October 2022, following the opening of the final Elizabeth line station, Bond Street.^[37]

Amtrak

In March 2023, it was reported that Byford would start serving as executive vice president in charge of high-speed rail for Amtrak on 10 April 2023.^[38]