London transport commissioner Andy Byford has resigned and is returning to the United States.
Current chief operating officer Andy Lord will become Commissioner for the time being.
TfL said Mr Byford had achieved his priorities since he joined TfL in June 2020, which were to complete the Elizabeth Line and to resolve Transport for London’s financial crisis. He also created a new and more efficient organisational structure. He will leave TfL at the end of October.
An additional short notice commitment had been dealing with hundreds of thousands of visitors to London for the State Funeral of the Queen. TfL said the event had posed a ‘significant operational challenge, and required a huge coordinated effort – with thousands of staff working around the clock’.
Before joining TfL he had been president of New York City Transit.
His interim successor Andy Lord joined TfL in November 2019 as managing director of London Underground, and became chief operating officer for all TfL's operations earlier this year.
Andy Byford said: ‘The opening of the Elizabeth line was, without doubt, the highlight of my career – made truly poignant as it was one of the last major events attended by Her Majesty the Queen. It was an honour to meet her, and an honour to oversee the transport arrangements for the ceremonial events to mark her passing.
‘With a longer-term financial settlement with Government now in place I can now leave with TfL set fair to move positively into the future – supporting London’s recovery from the pandemic and truly becoming the green heartbeat of the city.
‘It has been a huge privilege to have served as commissioner, back where I first started as a station foreman. I have been blessed to have had such an amazing transport and public service journey and now is the right time to bow out and resume life in the US with my wife. I have hugely appreciated the support of the Mayor and of two outstanding Deputy Mayors. Together we have navigated some dark days through the toughest period in TfL’s history, always seeking to look after our colleagues and our customers as we steered TfL towards a brighter future.’