Welcome home, “Train Daddy!”
Andy Byford, the former MTA New York City Transit boss, has been appointed as special advisor to the Amtrak Board of Directors for the Trump administration’s redevelopment of Penn Station, US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announced Tuesday.
Known to some New Yorkers as the “Train Daddy” for improving MTA service during his term as NYC Transit President, Byford will report directly to Amtrak directors and will work with the USDOT as he “oversees the Penn Station project through a master developer public-private partnership,” the agency announced Tuesday. Byford led NYC Transit for two years before resigning in 2020 amid reported disagreements with then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
“This approach will minimize risks and maximize results, so Amtrak and USDOT can deliver a world-class Penn Station that commuters, travelers, and tourists deserve,” USDOT’s Tuesday news release reads.
The Trump administration took over the Penn Station redesign from the MTA in April, scrapping multi-billion-dollar plans for long anticipated renovations. Amtrak, which owns Penn Station, now leads the project. Duffy has said that the move will save taxpayers $120 million.
“We’re thrilled to have Andy oversee the redevelopment and modernization of this vital transit hub,” said Duffy, a former reality television star. “Andy shares our dedication to keeping costs down and completing this project on time. Together we’ll work to deliver a brand-new Penn Station that is safe, clean, and worthy of the American people.”
In a Friday statement, Hochul announced she had spoken with Trump on May 18 about a “path forward for Penn Station,” during which Trump invited Hochul to “bring plans to the White House for review.”
“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,” Hochul said in the statement. “I am grateful to see the federal government taking full control over Penn Station renovations — allowing us to redeploy $1.2 billion in State funds that had previously been allocated toward this project.”
In his time heading up NYC Transit, Byford was a proponent of congestion pricing—a tolling program for Manhattan drivers that the USDOT is attempting to halt—and was credited for improving MTA trains and buses after a delay-ridden summer in 2017 colloquially known among riders as the “summer of hell.”
“Consistent with President Trump’s leadership and savvy approach to real estate, we’re ensuring accountability for critical infrastructure projects,” Deputy Transportation Secretary Steven Bradbury said in Tuesday’s news release.
