Andy Byford, former MTA president and London's transport commissioner, says preparing for queen's funeral took years
LONDON -- Approximately 2,000 guests have been invited to the funeral for Queen Elizabeth II and as many as 750,000 people are expected to view the queen's coffin.
There will be tight security, road closures and changes to mass transit in London. The man in charge of keeping the city's public transit system running smoothly is a familiar face to New Yorkers, CBS2's Kristine Johnson reported Friday.
Andy Byford, the former president of the MTA, is the commissioner of Transport for London. He said TFL has been preparing for this 10-day period of mourning for years.
"In terms of events, they don't get any bigger than this," said Byford, who called the effort "Herculean" and "truly a multi-agency operation."
Byford and his team are headquartered in an operations room with CCTV cameras beaming images across the city so they can react in real time. For the past week, his team has been communicating via an app and social media to alert customers of road closures, as well as underground, train and bus changes.
"Here we are at day seven. So far so good. But we know we're about to face the absolute toughest days. From here on in, it really does get busy," said Byford. "I've canceled all nonessential business. So we've got people from every department across TFL out helping our customers."
With 2,000 various heads of state and other distinguished guests expected to attend the queen's funeral, heightened security will force even more closures around Westminster Abby.
Byford said getting to the area will take extra time. Leaving will take even longer.
"My biggest concern is that at the end of the funeral everyone will want to go home at once," said Byford. "Take some time, have a drink, go and have some lunch, reflect upon this historic and sad occasion. And we will get you home, but please not all at once."
