COMSA Corporación is a Spanish global group focused on infrastructure development, industrial engineering and services, whose main business historically has been railway infrastructure work.

History

Comsa

The groups beginnings can be traced back to 1891 when railway employee José Miarnau Navás set up company to carry out railway infrastructure work in

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) called Construcciones Miarnau SA. By 1930, the company became a public company and moved its headquarters from Reus to

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. By the 1940s, the company had expanded into the general civil engineering field - building bridges, buildings and roads. By the 1980s, the company had expanded from its base in

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having projects in

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Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...

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and Castile and León, and had also entered the real estate and aggregates businesses. The 1990s brought further diversification as well as the beginnings of an international presence with a subsidiary
Fergrupo
' in Portugal. In the 2020s, the company had presence in ten countries and it diversified its activity towards sectors such as the environment, rail transport, renewable energies and concessions. By 2010s, the international business had grown, exceeding twenty countries and reaching half of the company's turnover.

Company structure and activities

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The main railway and infrastructure businesses within Spain were organised within the company ''COMSA''. In Spain COMSA carried out all aspects of railway building from the planning stage to construction and maintenance; high profile projects included work on the infrastructure of the high speed

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line. Other work included the construction of sidings for manufacturing companies including

BASF BASF SE () is a German multinational chemical company and the largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters is located in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The BASF Group comprises subsidiaries and joint ventures in more than 80 countries ...

, Ford Espania, Repsol Butano and

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post ...

, rolling stock shed and workshop construction, and electrification projects. In the general construction field the group carried out road, bridge, industrial, public and office building projects, as well as water infrastructure, harbour and airport construction.

Logistics

'' COMSA Rail Transport'' was set up in 2002 and was the first private company in Spain to acquire a license for the de-monopolized rail system. A subsidiary operated in Poland as 'Fer Polska'. The firm
GMF
' (''Gestíon de Maquinaria Ferroviaria'') managed the groups rolling stock including the track infrastructure equipment (track tampers etc.).
''comsa.com''

Other business activities

*The 'CUMESA' and 'Ubladesa' companies were involved in quarrying/mining of aggregates *'TRAVIPOS' - a joint venture with Rail.One GmbH produced precast concrete sleepers and other structures for the rail industry.

International operations

COMSA Corporación operates in 20 countries. The group has presence in Europe (Andorra, Croatia, Denmark, Spain, France, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland), Latin America (Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay) and North Africa (Algeria, Morocco). Some of the subsidiaries of the group were operated in Poland, Portugal, Argentina, Australia and Chile:

Argentina

The rail infrastructure subsidiary ''COMSA de Argentina'' was created in 1994.

Australia

COMSA had a 40% shareholding in 'MVM Rail Pty Ltd' (along with Macmahon Holding @ 60%) - the company undertakes most aspects of railway infrastructure work including signalling and overhead cable installation. Outside Australia MVM worked on rail projects in South-East Asian countries. The company was founded in 1992 by COMSA and Valditerra of Italy.

Chile

The rail infrastructure subsidiary ''COMSA de Chile'' was created in 1995.

Poland

COMSA owned a majority share in the three subsidiaries that make up the company Trakcja Polska: *PKRE - involved out the design and implementation of railway electrical power systems. *PKRiI (''Przedsiębiorstwo Robót Kolejowych i Inżynieryjnych SA'') The companies' main line of business was the groundwork for and installation of railway track and associated infrastructure. *PRK7 (''Przedsiębiorstwo Robót Komunikacyjnych 7 S.A'') became part of Trakcja Polska in 2007; the company specialises in public building construction and in rail and tramway creation and repair.

Portugal

Fergrupo
' (''FERGRUPO , Construções e Técnicas Ferroviárias, S.A.'') was founded in 1989 as a venture between stockholders COMSA, the Italian company Valditerra Spa and the Portuguese company R. Delerue. The company carries out all aspects of railway infrastructure building and maintenance projects.
company website ''fergrupo.pt''

References

External links

COMSA Corporación
{{DEFAULTSORT:Comsa Rail infrastructure in Spain Construction and civil engineering companies of Spain Railway infrastructure companies Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1891 Spanish companies established in 1891 COMSA