AUSTRALIA: Railway construction company Martinus Group has announced the launch of its own rail freight haulage business for the Australian and international markets, and has signed a strategic partnership with Chinese rolling stock manufacturer CRRC Ziyang.
‘We build railways. Now we operate on them’, said CEO Treaven Martinus, who founded the privately-owned Martinus Group in 2005 and has overseen its expansion to become a full-service rail infrastructure business. It undertakes projects in Australia and New Zealand, in the USA where it owns contractor Bottom Line, and in Chile where it owns a fleet of specialist rail plant which it uses to maintain the national network for EFE.
‘This is a big moment for our business. We started as a rail construction projects business. Through the work across the group, we’ve grown into a government infrastructure delivery partner. That’s what has made this next step possible.’
Martinus Haulage intends to provide bulk commodity haulage services using its own locomotives and wagons under long-term contracts. It is to launch on the 1 067 mm gauge network in Queensland, with plans for future expansion across Australia as well as in North America and Chile.
Martinus said ‘the partnership with CRRC is a game changer. It gives us access to a new generation fleet and long-term supply capability as we enter the market. This is part of building a complete railway offering across develop, design, build, own, operate and maintain.
‘We’re going up against the incumbents. We’ve done it before and we’ll do it again.’