This is a special episode recorded live in front of delegates at the recent Transforming Infrastructure Performance Summit in New York – the latest in this series of global events supported by software giant Bentley Systems and the UK Government.

My guest is Andy Byford, Special Advisor at Amtrak, former London Transport Commissioner, and the man in charge of the massive multi-billion dollar transformation of New York’s vast Penn Station, the busiest rail hub in the Western Hemisphere.

The Station sits on Seventh Avenue in the heart of Manhattan alongside the Maddison Square Garden sports and concert venue. It serves hundreds of thousands of passengers each day, via numerous the MTA subway lines and the Long lsland Railroad. Yet for decades it has struggled under the weight of aging assets, fragmented governance, and chronic underinvestment.

The result has been a station that works hard, but not well enough for the city, the region, or the nation it serves.

But that is now beginning to change. Under the expert eye of Andy - AKA the "Train Daddy" - the Penn Station Transformation intends to redefine what a modern, customer-focused, high-capacity rail hub can look like in the heart of one of the world’s densest urban environments.

And after a career running London’s Transport network, and before that, transportation in Sydney, Toronto and New York, he is the man that knows what passengers – and crucially what politicians want from this kind of station transformation.

I kicked off by getting to grips with this vast and highly political project - and asking what world class actually looks like?

Resources

• Penn Station tranformation
• Amtrak New Era of Rail website
• MTA project website
• TIP New York Summit 2026
• American Society of Civil Engineers website

In this episode we talk about infrastructure resilience: the challenge of designing and building infrastructure in an age of deep uncertainty, where a changing climate, a growing population, and a shrinking public purse have rendered traditional asset management models all but obsolete.

To discuss this vital issue, my guest is Sue Percy, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation and our focus will be on the resilience of the UK’s transport networks.

Sue is well placed to tackle the subject given that she fronted the CIHT’s annual conference last month titled “From Risk to Resilience” at which delegates debated a range of critical issues facing the national and local transport sector.

As the conference heard, the UK’s highways and transportation sector has operated for decades on the logic of risk management - calculating known variables to maintain a steady state. But that era is pretty much over.

And as the conference concluded, that range of systemic pressures requires a fundamental pivot in mindset and practice to move from risk to resilience. It requires us to view our infrastructure not as a collection of isolated assets, but as a living system.

That means building networks that don't just withstand disruption - whether from flooding or funding gaps - but infrastructure that actually adapts to it; embracing digital twins and predictive maintenance; breaking down the silos between engineering and policy, and finding the "technical leadership" necessary to deliver results when the skills gap is wider than ever.

It’s a complex story of moving beyond high-level theory to the sharp end of delivery. So let’s hear more

Resources

• CIHT annual conference 2026 - Risk to Resilience
• CIHT website
• Sue Percy Linked In
• National Highways Road Investment Strategy 3
• AIA Alarm Survey 2026
• Integrated National Transport Strategy
• UK government £1bn structures fund
• Climate Change Committee

In this episode we take a close look at the work of the Women in Property network and preview a special breakfast discussion that they have planned on 19th May at UKREiiF, the UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum being held in Leeds on 19th to 21st May.

Joining me is Sam McCabe, the newly installed national chair of Women in Property who in her day job, is Passive House Lead for the UK and Sustainable Buildings Lead for Scotland at consultant WSP.

There is much to discuss at the UKREIIF breakfast. The property and infrastructure sector is at a moment of both urgency and opportunity. Huge amounts of public and private investment are promised to underpin the nation’s growth ambitions, yet there are still a vast number of barriers to overcome.

Sam’s theme for her year in office tackles these challenges head on and underpins her career mission to deliver buildings and infrastructure that actually work for the environment, for people, for communities and for the bottom line.

So when she talks about “Building more with less,” she makes a direct challenge to the industry’s "silo mentality" and the systemic inefficiencies that too often see great designs diluted by late-stage value engineering.

And by championing inclusive leadership as a practical means to drive better decision-making, Sam is setting out at both WIP and WSP to bridge the gap between diversity and delivery.

So as usual the question is how to drive change. So let’s dig in and discuss her vision for a more collaborative more diverse, more effective and more sustainable industry.

Resources

• Women in Property website
• UKREiiF website
• WiP breakfast meeting 19th May at UKREiiF
• Male Allies UK - National Allyship Summit 14 May
• WiP People - Innovation - Place Summit - 23 April 2026
• WSP website
• Sam McCabe Linked In