Twenty years ago, Martinus entered the rail industry as a contractor. Today, it operates as something very different.
Across Australia, New Zealand, Chile and the United States, Martinus is originating, financing, engineering, building, operating and maintaining rail infrastructure – positioning itself as a global railway developer and long-term asset owner.
According to Australian rail entrepreneur Treaven Martinus, who founded Martinus in 2005, this transformation was no accident, but the result of two decades of deliberately stacking capability.
“Our journey has involved learning rail from the ground up, removing inefficiency at every interface, and building a business designed not just to deliver projects, but to own and operate them over the long term,” he said.
“For Martinus, the past 20 years are not the story, but the proof.”
Designed growth, not accidental scale
Treaven Martinus said his company began with a simple conviction: rail infrastructure could be delivered more efficiently if those doing the work truly understood how rail systems function end to end.
Early work focused on turnout supply, with each project funding the next.
“Capital and capability were deployed deliberately and carefully, and every contract was treated as a platform for the next constraint to be removed,” he explained.
“A breakthrough turnout contract with the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) validated the model and accelerated expansion into construction.”
Early multidisciplinary projects such as the Gunnedah Yard Upgrade in 2014 – a $40 million project that was part of ARTC’s rollout of 30-tonne axle load (TAL) access to its customers throughout the upper Hunter Valley – demonstrated that Martinus could self-perform complex rail scopes well beyond its perceived size.
“What followed was controlled growth driven by one question: what capability must we add next to remove friction from delivery?” Treaven Martinus said.
“Major programs forced the business to answer that question in real time, and the Murray Basin Rail Project marked a turning point for us.”
A $440 million project that played a key role in the Victorian Government’s strategy to improve regional exports and ensure long-term growth in the grain, mineral sands and agricultural industries, the scale of the Murray Basin Rail Project was unprecedented for Martinus.
Between July 2017 and August 2018, crews upgraded hundreds of kilometres of track, with multiple work fronts and a workforce scaling into the hundreds.
Chief Operating Officer at Martinus, Ryan Baden, said systems, leadership depth and endurance were tested all at once.
“We learned how to operate at major-project scale,” he said. “It was uncomfortable, but it changed everything.”
The Carmichael Rail Network North Civil Package moved the goalposts again. What began as a track package evolved into the delivery of an entire greenfield rail corridor under extreme conditions.
Martinus expanded from a modest civil scope into full fence-line-to-fence-line delivery, mobilising specialist plant, engineering capability and more than 1000 people through the project, including during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“By the time Carmichael was delivered, Martinus was no longer defined by project size, but by completeness,” Baden added.
The real differentiator
Treaven Martinus said that through its growth, Martinus learned an enduring lesson.
“Delivery capability scales only when people do,” he said. “Our early hiring mistakes reinforced this reality.
“Experience and titles alone didn’t build resilient teams: culture, accountability and hunger did.”
Martinus said the company now focuses on developing people from within.
“We back people with the right mindset, giving them real responsibility and supporting them to grow into leadership roles,” he said.
“The result is a business where delivery confidence does not sit with a few individuals but is embedded across the organisation.
“With the right team, support and belief, people consistently outperform expectations. Martinus treats that as a strategic advantage, not a slogan.”
An Australian model taken global
After proving its capability in Australia, Martinus expanded internationally – exporting a delivery model built on vertical integration, accountability and
self-performance.
“New Zealand was a natural next step, and Chile was chosen deliberately, offering strong long-term opportunity and rail systems closely aligned to Australian practice,” said Treaven Martinus.
Today, Martinus Chile employs more than 400 people delivering new railways, renewals and advanced rail systems – including overhead wiring, SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition), CCTV (closed-circuit television) and station infrastructure – with capability flowing both ways across the group.
The United States represents the largest frontier for the full-service railway infrastructure company.
“A rail market many times the size of Australia’s, it demands patience, credibility and local execution,” said Martinus.
“Momentum is now accelerating, with Martinus transitioning from service-based work into major project pursuits across multiple states.
“Measured by capability added, markets entered and scale delivered – not just revenue – Martinus’s international expansion is unusually controlled and unusually fast.”
From delivery to ownership
According to Treaven Martinus, the most significant evolution of the business is now becoming visible.
Under Infrastructure by Martinus (IBM), the company is moving beyond traditional contracting into full railway development and ownership – originating, structuring, financing, engineering, building and operating rail assets across its global footprint.
“This platform has been under development for several years, with multiple rail assets already progressing through origination, pre-development and structuring phases in different markets.”
While not all projects are yet public, the approach is deliberate and repeatable.
“The logic is straightforward: the organisations best placed to manage long-term rail risk are those that understand how railways are engineered, built, operated and maintained.
“Rather than competing solely in fragmented delivery environments, Infrastructure by Martinus focuses on early definition, engineering-led constructability, integrated financing and long-term operational performance.”
A public example of a broader platform
While several rail developments are advancing under Infrastructure by Martinus, one project currently in the public domain provides an illustration of the model in action.
In Alaska, Martinus has partnered with Macquarie Bank to establish Alaska Infrastructure Partners (AIP), advancing the Port MacKenzie Rail Extension, a key freight connection supporting long-term industrial and economic development.
Selected by the Alaska Gasline Development Corporation, AIP is leading early-phase development, shaping scope, risk allocation and delivery structure to support a fully financed, fixed-cost delivery model with long-term operational outcomes.
“Rather than a one-off initiative, Alaska reflects a repeatable approach Martinus is now applying across its global rail development pipeline,” said Treaven Martinus.
Why the industry is paying attention
Successfully transitioning into development as a rail contractor requires strong delivery credibility, disciplined capital deployment and the confidence to walk away from work that does not fit, Martinus said.
“Few rail contractors successfully transition into development, and fewer still do so internationally,” he said.
“Where traditional contractors are optimised for delivery and financial developers for capital, Martinus is optimised for the entire asset lifecycle.
“Our vertically integrated model compresses interfaces, reduces misaligned incentives and aligns long-term performance with delivery decisions made at the engineering stage.
“In an industry grappling with risk transfer, delivery certainty and value for money, that alignment matters.”
Twenty years after its formation, Martinus remains proudly Australian, but no longer Australia-only.
“Our future lies at the intersection of delivery and development, where railways are conceived, financed, engineered, constructed and operated by the same organisation that will own their performance for decades.
“The past 20 years built the foundation, but the next 20 will define a different way rail infrastructure is delivered – and owned – globally.”
