Latest news with #Byford
NZ Herald
5 days ago
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Whanganui club rugby: Taihape to defend Barracks Challenge Shield after upset win over Kaierau
Brought to you by Whanganui Rugby When Byford's Readimix Taihape fly under the radar, they really do strike. The Tasman Tanning Premier's second-placed team were underdogs heading to the Country Club with a light reserves bench against unbeaten Wanganui Car Centre Kaierau last Saturday, with a lot of attention directed
NZ Herald
02-06-2025
- Sport
- NZ Herald
Taihape upset Kaierau to reclaim Barracks Shield in rugby thriller
Brought to you by Whanganui Rugby There are no remaining undefeated teams in Tasman Tanning Premier or Senior as Byford's Readimix Taihape made a signature raid at the Country Club to upend Wanganui Car Centre Kaierau on Saturday. Regaining the Barracks Challenge Shield with a 33-27 triumph, Taihape took
New York Post
27-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
NYC ‘Train Daddy' Andy Byford joins Amtrak board to oversee Penn Station revamp
WASHINGTON — 'Train Daddy' is officially back. Former Transit President Andy Byford has formally joined Amtrak's Board of Directors to oversee the long-delayed revamp of Penn Station, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Tuesday Byford resigned from his Big Apple role in February 2020 after butting heads with then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo — now the favorite to become the city's next mayor — and is currently serving as a senior vice president at Amtrak focusing on high-speed rail. 'Thanks to President Trump's leadership, America is building again,' Duffy said in a statement. 'We're thrilled to have Andy oversee the redevelopment and modernization of this vital transit hub.' 3 New York City's 'Train Daddy' Andy Byford has officially joined Amtrak's Board of Directors to oversee the long-delayed revamp of Penn Station, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Tuesday. AFP via Getty Images 'Andy shares our dedication to keeping costs down and completing this project on time,' Duffy added. 'Together we'll work to deliver a brand-new Penn Station that is safe, clean, and worthy of the American people.' The $7 billion overhaul will involve a 'public-private partnership model' to renovate the crumbling infrastructure and add more rail capacity,' Duffy said last month. Trump had fired the MTA from overseeing the Penn Station revamp, begun in 2021 under Cuomo and continued by his successor as governor, Kathy Hochul. 3 Byford will now serve as a special adviser on Amtrak's board after having previously led public transit systems in Toronto, London and Sydney as well. Getty Images Cuomo had tapped Byford for the Transit role following massive subway delays during 2017's 'Summer of Hell.' Under the Englishman, NYC subways reached their highest on-time performance levels in six years. However, Byford complained that working under Cuomo was 'intolerable' and that he'd been 'excluded from meetings' critical to day-to-day operations. 3 Deputy Secretary Steven Bradbury in a statement Tuesday added that the Transportation Department looks forward to helping 'revitalize Penn Station as a spectacular, safe, and reliable passenger rail gateway.' James Keivom After leaving his New York job shortly before the onset of COVID-19, Byford was appointed commissioner of Transport for London in June 2020, resigning two years and three months later after overseeing the opening of the commuter-rapid transit hybrid Elizabeth Line, citing a desire to return to the US to be with his family. Hochul, who pulled more than $1 billion in state funding for the Penn Station project, welcomed news of Byford's return to New York City in a Friday statement expressing relief that the money pit was the feds' problem now. 'I'm very pleased to be working with the newly-appointed Andy Byford, who has a distinguished career in transit and infrastructure, and hope he is able to use these skills to deliver a beautiful, on-time, federally funded Penn Station renovation that New Yorkers can be proud of,' she said. Deputy Transportation Secretary Steven Bradbury added Tuesday that the Transportation Department looks forward to helping 'revitalize Penn Station as a spectacular, safe, and reliable passenger rail gateway.'
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Report: Trump taps Andy Byford, ‘Train Daddy,' to head Penn Station rebuild
Former NYC Transit head Andy Byford has been chosen by President Trump to head up the effort to rebuild Penn Station, according to the White House. Trump's apparent selection of Byford — a respected authority on railroad and transit operations who has run systems in Toronto, New York, London and Sydney — comes one month after the federal government pulled the stalled project away from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The news was first reported Friday by the West Side Spirit. Byford's leadership could signal an unexpected commitment to the project on the part of the mercurial Trump administration, and signal a departure from prior elements of Amtrak's plan — such as possibly abandoning the demolition of a city block south of the station in order to build more tracks for NJ Transit. Byford — whose short two-year stint at the head of NYC Transit endeared him to transit workers and riders alike, earning him the nickname 'Train Daddy' — has been working at Amtrak on high-speed rail since 2023. That same year, as previously reported by The News, Byford opined — albeit in a personal capacity — on several of the more controversial elements of the Penn Station plan at a public talk about the station. '[I]t would break my heart to see beautiful buildings torn down on Eighth and Seventh Aves. when they don't need to be,' he said at the time. Byford also indicated his support for so-called 'through-running,' an arrangement that would see trains continue on to other destinations beyond Penn Station before turning around or reversing — an arrangement that would reduce the time trains sit stationary at Penn and could allow for more frequent service. Despite the fact that many NJ Transit trains do, in fact, travel on to a yard in Queens after making their last stop at Penn, Amtrak has historically argued that through-running is not possible, citing incompatibilities among the equipment used by the three railroads — Amtrak, Long Island Rail Road and NJ Transit — that use the station. It was unclear on Friday whether Byford would have the authority to change Amtrak's existing plans, like the proposed demolition of Block 780 — the city block between W. 31st and W. 30th Sts., bounded by Seventh and Eighth Aves. — in order to create more platform space for NJ Transit commuter trains. The news of Byford's involvement was welcomed by close watchers of Penn's redevelopment. Layla Law-Gisiko — who heads the City Club of New York, a preservation group that opposes the plan to demolish the blocks around Penn — described Byford as an 'obvious' choice. 'I am overjoyed,' she told The News. 'He knows rail. He knows infrastructure. He knows community engagement in New York. He has the highest level of integrity. This guy has no ego.' Samuel Turvey of the advocacy group ReThinkNYC, who also opposes the state plan, described Byford's selection as 'a really great choice for everyone in the New York region.' 'Andy Byford has had great success on three continents, including his time in New York, and will bring integrity, competence and advanced leadership skills to the multi-decade conundrum at Penn Station,' he said. 'He will not, however, be able to do this on his own. He will need all of us to help him succeed.'
New York Post
23-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
NYC's ‘Train Daddy' Andy Byford is coming back to take over long-troubled Penn Station overhaul
New York's 'Train Daddy' is coming home. Former NYC Transit President Andy Byford — who infamously resigned after clashing with then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo — has been brought on by the White House to take over the long-delayed revamp of Penn Station. Byford, now an executive at Amtrak, will oversee one of the most prominent transit projects in the country, White House officials confirmed Friday. Advertisement Andy Byford is back to takeover the ailing project. AFP via Getty Images The move, first reported by Gothamist, puts the British transit official on a collision course with MTA Chair Janno Lieber, who had the project torn away from his agency by US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. The Trump administration instead gave the massive job to Amtrak, where Byford has worked since 2023. Advertisement Trump announced his administration would be taking over the project — to the chagrin of Kathy Hochul. Getty Images The beloved transportation exec, who has also led the Sydney, Toronto and London systems, was run out of New York in 2020 by Cuomo. Byford said at the time that Cuomo — who is now running for New York City mayor — undermined him to the point that his job became 'intolerable.'
