Hugh Lawson is the Head of Customer, Operations & Project Sponsorship at Sydney Metro, responsible for the successful ongoing delivery of metro rail operations, project sponsorship, business cases and project development, as well as metro customer and product outcomes.
Until October 2024, Hugh was the Sydney Metro Project Director for the City & Southwest Project, responsible for leading the successful delivery of the A$21.6bn second stage of the transformative Sydney Metro program which extends Metro services from Chatswood to Bankstown through the Sydney CBD.
In August 2024 Hugh and his team successfully opened to the public the incredible City section of the metro, extending metro services from Chatswood to Sydenham. Carrying over 5m passengers in the first month and exceeding all performance targets, this game changing addition to Sydney’s public transport system has received universally positive feedback.
Hugh was awarded the Public Service Medal in the 2025 King’s Birthday Honours for outstanding public service to public transport in NSW.
Hugh joined Sydney Metro in early 2017 from Transport for London where he previously spent 10 years leading the delivery of infrastructure projects and enhancements across the London Overground rail network.
Hugh is an experienced executive and leader of complex infrastructure mega projects. He is a Chartered Civil Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Civil Engineers, holds a MA and MEng in Engineering from St. John’s College, University of Cambridge, and is a Member of the Association for Project Management.
