New York City’s “Train Daddy” is ready to start chugging along in the US again.
Former MTA NYC Transit President Andy Byford is back in the country and looking for work in the transit industry, The Post has learned — though the cheery Brit is tight-lipped about where he may be headed.
“We arrived at JFK a week ago yesterday, Sunday October 30,” Byford told The Post on Monday. “I immigrated on a Green Card that entitles me to live and work anywhere in the US within my area of expertise, namely transportation.”
The ex-transit boss of Sydney, Toronto, New York and London left NYC on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, saying he had had enough of “interference” from then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Meanwhile, Byford — whom New Yorkers dubbed “Train Daddy” — returned to his hometown of London to serve as its top transportation official.
Over 27 months, the 33-year railroad vet oversaw the completion of a long-delayed and over-budget Elizabeth Line project, which he toured earlier this year with the late Queen Elizabeth II in one of her final public appearances.
The MTA did not settle on a permanent replacement for Byford until this past May — Massachusetts’ former top transportation official, Richard Davey.
Byford on Monday declined to share details about where in the US he may end up — or if New York and the MTA are even on the short list.
In the meantime, he and his Canadian wife are taking a road trip through Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana, he said.
“Whether I choose to work for a public transit system here would depend on being given the leeway to do what needs to be done — mindful of why I left NYCT, namely in the face of constant undermining and interference,” Byford said.
“I am in discussions with a number of prospective employers within the transit sector, one in particular.”
Large US transportation systems in search of new, permanent transit leadership include Austin and Boston. Other roles could open up after Tuesday’s midterm elections — including in New York, where Gov. Kathy Hochul faces a challenge from Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin.
One person familiar with Byford’s stint in New York suggested his time to make an impact on the MTA had passed.
London, like New York, faced a massive drop in fare revenue as a result of COVID-19. Byford’s final act there was to secure an agreement with the UK government “to avoid large scale cuts” through March 2024.
But whereas Byford’s New York tenure focused on operations, today’s MTA faces the existential challenge of replacing fare revenue amid remote work and concerns about transit crime, the source said.
“The problems of the post-pandemic are very different from when he left. He’d be returning to a very different organization than the one he left,” the source said.
“I don’t think anyone wants to return to the drama of the Cuomo-era MTA.”