At MOVE America 2025, we had the pleasure of catching up with Train Daddy himself and a living legend of mass transportation, Andy Byford. In our riveting conversation with the Senior Vice President and Special Advisor to the Board at Amtrak, we discussed Andy’s ambitious vision for mass transportation in the U.S. and the importance of redefining our A-to-B approach to public transit.
Andy reimagines the possibilities of modern-day railroading, exploring the potential for railway stations to act as intermodal hubs of integration and community. Shedding light on his latest project- the complete transformation of New York’s Penn Station – Andy reflects on the need to redefine railway stations as focal points of community life and as hubs for economic and employment development.
With a career spanning several decades and multiple continents, we unpack the key lessons from Andy’s storied career as former Commissioner of Transport for London and a key player behind London’s Elizabeth Line. We also reflect on some of the challenges of uniting the mass transportation jigsaw across different geographies, particularly when it comes to providing a cohesive mass transit system in the face of the U.S.’s state-by-state patchwork of regulations.
We wrap things up by exploring the benefits and risks of an increasingly automated industry. Andy champions automation and its ability to replace monotonous or potentially hazardous jobs like track inspections, by utilising proactive technologies, efficiency-boosting diagnostics and predictive repairs. Andy concludes by advocating for a human-centred approach to mass transportation, asking the question- Can automation ever replace the empathy that lies behind a human workforce?
Watch the full interview with Andy Byford and MOVEmnt Editor Eve Stevens below.
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