Meet Michael Barron: from transport planning grad to chief technical officer for Asia Pacific and Australasia

Michael Barron is a design maestro with a passion for building collaborative and high performing teams and sharing his knowledge with others. He has more than 35 years of experience, and since 2012, Michael has used his pragmatic leadership and innovative design acumen to help deliver for Sydney Metro.

Tell us about your career journey within the transport industry

My career in transport has been diverse. I started my journey in transport planning at Mott MacDonald (formerly Mott Hay and Anderson) straight out of university. After a few years in transport planning, I pursued a master’s degree and shifted my focus to bridge design.

Over the past 35 years, I’ve led design teams on major road, rail, and metro projects worldwide, involving bridges, viaducts, and underground structures. My journey has taken me from Taiwan’s high-speed rail to major river crossings in Korea and Thailand, and back to the UK to work on their first high-speed rail line.

My work on the truly city shaping Delhi Metro continues to resonate with me as one of the most important projects. Being involved in this project was a catalyst for me to pivot my career, opting to change the focus of my work from bridges to major multi-discipline transport projects. From here, I went on to work on Heathrow’s Terminal 5, and spent six years in the Middle East leading Mott MacDonald’s transport business.

In 2012, I seized the opportunity to move to Sydney to work as design director for Sydney Metro Northwest – marking the start of my significant journey with major transportation projects in Australia.

Where did your journey with Sydney Metro begin?

Sydney Metro Northwest was a groundbreaking project, introducing Australia’s first fully accessible, fully automatic metro system, designed to support the growth of Sydney’s northwest as a major residential and commercial hub. 
In the role of design director, I worked alongside our Mott MacDonald joint venture partners, KBR and SMEC, to design eight new stations from Cherrybrook to Tallowong. These included three underground stations, three open-cut suburban stations, and two elevated stations. Together, we delivered underground stations in with an unprecedented reliance on precast elements, we eliminated 900 drawings, resulting in significant program and cost savings by digitising the design process using coordinated 3D BIM.

The Sydney Metro Northwest project truly allowed me to contribute international best practices in metro design, emphasizing functionality, efficiency, and reliability.

Since 2019 the Northwest line has transformed the way people travel in the area, leaving a lasting impact on Sydney’s landscape.

Describe your role on Sydney Metro City & Southwest

Following the successful completion of Sydney Metro Northwest, Mott MacDonald was engaged on Sydney Metro City & Southwest. A key project to take the Northwest line through Sydney’s city centre and out into the south western suburbs.

I led the METRON joint venture of Arcadis and Mott MacDonald along with world renowned architects, Foster & Partners and Architectus, to deliver the Stage 1 designs for five underground and three overground stations. This covered all engineering and architectural design, urban integration, and landscape, building services and structural works.

To derive opportunities to improve outcomes and deliver efficiencies and design excellence, I sympathetically challenged proposed designs and assumptions and championed customer centred approaches.

As design director I embedded collaboration into the team culture and enabled the delivery of high-quality station designs that were successfully delivered against changing requirements.

What are you proud of, when reflecting on City & Southwest?

Over the past 12 years, my project engagements have largely focussed on delivering for Sydney Metro. In this time our Mott MacDonald team has grown from 200 to more than 1,000 people strong across Australia – many of whom have played pivotal roles on Sydney Metro projects.

I’m proud of the diverse expertise, global insights, and culture we brought to City & Southwest. The technical knowledge, depth of metro experience from projects globally, truly helped to shape City & Southwest.

We were able to challenge our thinking and collaborate with colleagues globally to find innovative solutions and explore better ways of delivery for Sydney Metro and for the end user – our communities, to deliver excellence.

The power of collaboration and diversity of expertise and experience cannot be underestimated.

When I first arrived in Australia, Sydney had no metros. With the opening of the city section the M1 line now has 21 stations, carrying more than 200,000 passengers a day. Next year an additional 10 stations will open and by 2032 the network will boast 46 stations and an impressive 113 km across three metro lines.

The success of our design work for City & South West was absolutely key in becoming Sydney Metro’s Engineering, Design and Assurance Technical Partner since 2020. As the Engineering & Design Director on this project I have overseen the development of the schemes for both the new metro lines.

What do you take away from projects like City & Southwest?

There's a lot to be said for the relationships that you build in delivering major projects.

The unity within our team and partnership stands out. Reflecting on City & Southwest I am proud of the One Team environment we were able to create with our project partners. Complex projects will always have challenges, and it’s the teams around you and the supportive culture that can have the greatest positive impact on a project.

Even after specific project phases are completed, those bonds and connections endure, leaving a lasting impression on the work delivered. Knowing the DNA of those stations will be visible in the work we delivered and the way we delivered is hugely rewarding.

What would you like to share with others, just starting their career journey?

Challenge everything you think you know. Ask questions. Don’t accept things at face value — always inquire why. Seek mentors and coaches who can guide you.

Across our industry there are so many brilliant people to learn from and work with. Don’t hesitate to ask questions; it’s how you learn and grow.

As an early career professional, embrace the fact that you don’t know everything — that’s where growth begins.