Madarail

Madarail
Overview
Headquarters	Antananarivo
Locale	Madagascar
Dates of operation	2003–present
Technical
Track gauge	1,000 mm (3 ft 3+3⁄8 in)

MADARAIL
Type	Joint stock
Industry	Rail transport
Founded	1999?[citation needed]
Headquarters	Antananarivo
Key people	Patrick Claes, Managing Director ; Patrick Stevenaert, General Manager ; Théodore Rasolonjatovo, Operations Manager ; Eric Pfeiffer, Chairman of the Board
Products	Train transport service ; Infrastructure construction
Number of employees	~ 850
Website	http://www.madarail.mg

The government of Madagascar has granted Madarail a 25-year concession to operate the northern of the two national rail lines. The company is investing heavily in Madagascar's rail system. Operations began in 2003 with one locomotive; 7 more locomotives have been purchased from the Portuguese Comboios de Portugal, the CP Class 9020.

Overview[]

The ownership of the company's stock is as follows:

Madarail itself: 51.0%
12.5%
: 9.0%
: 2.5%
State of Madagascar: 25.0%

The company has begun^[when?] a 5-year £37.5 million investment program for developing the rail infrastructure in Madagascar. The funding has been obtained as follows:

World Bank and the Madagascar government: Euro 25.7 million loan
European Investment Bank: Euro 11 million loan
BFV-Société Générale: 950 million Francs Malagasy.

The agenda of the 5-year plan includes:

Thorough rebuilding of the rail complex in Antananarivo
Refurbishment of , the main passenger station in Antananarivo
Refurbishment of , the main passenger station in Toamasina
Construction of a container terminal in Antananarivo.

Further projects include a partnership with to enable the transportation of petroleum products between 24 Madagascar depots. And according to the company's website at Comazar, new mining projects are being planned by American, Australian and Canadian companies due to the refurbishment of the country's rail system.

, an Indian-based multinational company, has executed level crossing protection system for nine level crossings for Madarail.