The Freewheeling Podcast
The Freewheeling Podcast
Thomas Ableman
Making a Metro Happen with Mark Barry
53 minutes Posted Apr 29, 2026 at 3:47 pm.
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Show notes
There aren’t many people who’ve personally made a Metro happen.
Big infrastructure products normally start with a regional or national Government drawing lines on a map.
The South Wales Metro started with Mark Barry coming back from Milan and saying “we should have one of those” - and then refusing to shut up about it.
Today’s episode is a fascinating account of how to make transport change happen in the real world, with powerful lessons for anyone whose role is transport change - or who just wants transport change.
This is one of those episodes I particularly hope you’ll listen to.