London Underground managing director Tim O’Toole has announced he’s to stand down from the organisation in April and return to America. Mr O’Toole joined TfL in 2003 and was previously President and chief executive of Consolidated Rail Corporation.
Last night he told the BBC his decision to return to the US had nothing to do with Mayor of London Boris Johnson, adding the Mayor “has been very supportive of projects that have been close to my heart”.
In a TfL statement issued Wednesday Mr O’Toole said: “I am sad to leave LU but after six years in London it is time to go home. LU’s customers and employees can look forward to the continuing transformation of the Tube with the delivery of major projects between now and the London 2012 games. I am particularly proud that LU employees have achieved record operating results and all-time high levels of customer satisfaction in this past year. I shall always be grateful for the privilege of being part of such a great institution.”
Mayor of London Boris Johnson said O’Toole “has been a magnificent public servant and we will build on the fantastic legacy he leaves in the years ahead. I wish him and his family all the very best.”
Former Mayor Ken Livingstone has paid tribute to O’Toole, praising his response to the July 7th terror outrage. Mr Livingstone said O’Toole’s “steely nerves took us through the worse moments of the terrorist attacks on London when London Underground staff saved many, many lives. Then he got London moving again within hours showing we will never give in to those who seek to murder us.”
Mr Livingstone also praised O’Toole’s commitment to making a success of the Government’s “misconceived” Tube Public Private Partnership.
