How Madrid built its metro cheaply
Summary
Madrid tripled its metro length in 12 years at costs described as substantially below international norms. The piece highlights four lessons for policymakers and engineers: empower city-level authorities for fast, inexpensive delivery; treat time as a cost; explicitly manage trade-offs; and build state capacity through a pipeline of projects. It also contrasts Madrid’s streamlined approvals and 24/7 tunneling with slower, more costly approaches elsewhere.