Madarail

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MADARAIL

Type	Joint stock
Founded	2003
Headquarters	Antanarivo
Key people	Patrick Claes, Managing Director Patrick Stevenaert, General Manager Théodore Rasolonjatovo, Operations Manager Eric Pfeiffer, Chairman of the Board
Industry	Rail transport
Products	Train transport service Infrastructure construction
Employees	~ 850
Website	http://www.comazar.com/madarail.htm/

Madarail
Locale	Madagascar
Dates of operation	2003 – present
Track gauge	1 m (3 ft 3³⁄₈ in)
Headquarters	Antanarivo

The government of Madagascar has granted Madarail a 25 year concession to operate the national rail line. The company is investing heavily in Madagascar's rail system. Operations began in 2003 with one locomotive; 7 more locomotives have been purchased from a Portuguese company.

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

Madarail itself: 51.0%
Manohisoa Financière: 12.5%
First Immo: 9.0%
Financière Aro: 2.5%
State of Madagascar: 25.0%

The company has begun a 5-year 37.5 million euro investment program for developing the rail infrastructure in Madagascar. The funding has been obtained thusly:

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

The agenda of the 5-year plan includes:

Thorough rebuilding of the rail complex in Antanarivo
Refurbishment of Gare de Soarano, the main passenger station in Antanarivo
Refurbishment of Gare Tamatave Manguiers, the main passenger station in Toamasina
Construction of a container terminal in Antanarivo.

Further projects include a partnership with Logistique Pétrolière 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.