New NY Transit chief rides subway to work on his first day, vows to fix ageing system

New York

LIKE countless others headed to work on Tuesday morning, Andy Byford stood wearing a backpack on a crowded subway platform at Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan waiting for a No 4 train to arrive. In a clear sign that he was not a native New Yorker, he politely stepped aside to allow passengers off the train before edging his way onto the crowded car.

Though he remained largely unrecognisable to the crush of passengers surrounding him, Mr Byford was not just another harried commuter - he is the man who is now running, and tasked with fixing, New York City's subway system.