Malagasy Railway

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In July 2003, the Government of Madagascar granted a 25 year concession to operate the Northern railway network to Madarail consortium. The railway network had 650 km length and was divided in three main sections. The TCE line (from the port of Toamasina to the capital city of Antananarivo), the TA line (from the capital city to Antsirabe) and the MLA line (Moramanga to the Lake Alaotra). The railway carried 94% of the country's rail freight and 86% of the passenger traffic. Madarail consortium was integrated by Madarail Holdings (51%), government of Madagascar (25%), Manohisoa Financiere (12.5), First Immo (9%), and Fianciere Aro (2.5%). The shareholders of Madarail Holdings (Mauritius) were Comazar (51%) and Madagascar Utilities (49%). Comazar was founded as a private pan-African railway operator by South African Transnet (Spoornet) and Transurb Consult (a subsidiary of the Belgian Railways) in 1995. Under the contract, concessionaire was responsible for the commercial operation of railway services, including maintenance, partial renewal/redeployment of existing rail infrastructure and real estate management of the railway public domain assets. The government kept ownership of track infrastructure (rail, bridges, buildings) while Madarail owned the rolling stock. Madarail's activities were regulated by the concession agreement prepared by CPCS Transcom. The Under the contract, Madarail agreed to a 5-year investment program estimated at US$36 million. The financial institutions providing the finances for the investment program are: • European Investment Bank: Euro 11 million loan • BFV - Société Générale: 950 millions Francs Malagasy None None