Martinus has been winning railway industry contracts consistently for decades, testament indeed to its professionalism and quality of work that has made the company one of the most well-known names in the sector.
The leading full-service railway infrastructure business specialises in constructing and maintaining large scale railways and intermodals across Australia, New Zealand, Chile and North America.
Australian-owned and operated, Martinus applies its extensive civil and rail knowledge and project management skills to deliver infrastructure solutions for its clients across greenfield and brownfield projects.
Today it runs projects in four core countries, has 17 office locations, with more than $2.7 billion worth of works in hand.
Martinus head of plant and assets, Dave Van Hoos, tells Rail Express that the key to the company’s success and sustainable organic growth was its vertically integrated, self- delivery model.
“Our organic growth can be attributed to a decision made to double down on becoming the railway infrastructure experts and to drive self-delivery of our projects,” he said.
“Martinus has the in-house capability for full turnkey project development of complex railway infrastructure, from feasibility and operational transformation, engineering management, through to project management, construction management, and seamless integration.
“We provide a cost-effective and low-risk solution to clients by streamlining engineering and construction processes.
“As a self-delivery contractor and project developer, we take full responsibility for the entire project, eliminating the need for multiple contractors and suppliers. This simplifies communication and coordination throughout the project lifecycle.
“And a key aspect of this is the investment placed in our plant and equipment.”
Martinus currently has the largest privately owned portfolio of specialist narrow and standard gauge railway plant and equipment in Australia, and continues to invest in it every year.
“Our plant and equipment is vital to our ongoing growth strategy not only in Australia, but in our global core markets of NZ, Chile and North America as well,” Van Hoos said.
“The assets include high production sleeper layers, high production track layers, gantry cranes, combilift straddle carriers, locomotives, wagons, RRV shunters, track laying point systems, tampers, regulators, flashbutt welding units, excavators, rail cranes, PEM-LEMs and the list goes on.”
Van Hoos said there were clear benefits to keep investing heavily in machinery.
“Our experience in delivering large scale, complex railway infrastructure across both greenfield and brownfield environments has taught us that access to a readily available fleet provides several key advantages,” he said.
These include reliability, customisation, cost efficiency, adaptability, project control, and timely delivery.
“It allows us to mobilise quickly all over the country and adapt to the different environments across our regional and urban sites,” Van Hoos said.
“We can just as easily service downtown Brisbane as we can the Pilbara in WA.
“The control we have on our plant and equipment has allowed us to provide industry leading productivity records along the rail corridor, including:
• Ballast placement: 8000 tonnes in 24 hours • Skeleton track: 6000 metres per shift
• 65 flash butt welds per shift on formation
• 15 kilometres tamping per day
“Additionally, we are proud of our safety performance record. This is underpinned by a mature and robust rail safety and safety management system through our comprehensive rail accreditation as a Rail Transport Operator (RTO).
“Accredited with ONRSR as a Rolling Stock Operator (RSO) and Rail Infrastructure Manager (RIM) in Australia, Martinus operates rolling stock to maintain and construct railway infrastructure, prioritising rail transportation for the movement of construction materials – we build railways from the railway.”
Martinus is supported by a dedicated plant and equipment team and workshop in Rocklea, Queensland.
“Our in-house plant management team manages the asset lifecycle from procurement and logistics to operations and maintenance,” Van Hoos said.
“We are a diverse and multi-skilled team made up of mechanical, electrical and boilermaker/fabricator tradespeople, civil
and rail plant and equipment operators,
and supervisory, management, safety and engineering teams. We are also investing in the next generation of railway experts with an apprenticeship and trainee program.
“The plant department is committed to supporting Martinus and the rail industry in providing safe, fit-for-purpose, compliant and reliable plant and equipment to deliver our many complex rail projects.”
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