By Ilaria Grasso Macola
LONDON’S transport chief has moved to silence talk of a split with Mayor Sadiq Khan after he announced his departure from the top job.
Conservative London Assembly transport spokesman Nick Rogers said the departure was a sign that Khan’s Mayoralty was “in chaos.”
But yesterday Byford told City A.M. that Khan had been “extremely supportive” throughout his tenure and that he had provided consistent “good counsel” during Byford’s tenure of just over two years.
In a handwritten letter sent to the Mayor by the Transport for London boss seen by City A.M., Byford thanked the Mayor “for the friendship, guidance and support you have given me.”
Byford (right) said his time at the top of Transport for London was a career highlight, having begun working for the organisation in 1989 prior to a host of roles all over the world, including running New York City’s transit system.
The opening of the Elizabeth Line, Byford said, was the “best way” to finish a 33-year public servive career. He is returning to the United States with his North American wife and has “irons in the fire” though said he was fully focussed on running TfL until the end of October.
A source close to Sadiq Khan told City A.M. that Tory complaints were “the usual political nonsense… who would blame the weather on Sadiq if they could.”
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