Morocco is located in the northwest of
Africa, bordering Algeria to the east and southeast, Western Sahara to the
south, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, facing Spain across the Strait of
Gibraltar to the north. It is the gateway from the Mediterranean Sea to the
Atlantic Ocean. The coastline is more than 1,700 km long. The national
territorial area is 459,000 km2 (excluding 266,000 km2 of
Western Sahara). The population is 36.21 million (as of 2021), with Arabs
accounting for about 80% and Berbers accounting for about 20%. Arabic is the
national language and French is commonly spoken. The predominant religion is
Islam. Morocco is divided into 12 regions (including Western Sahara), 62
provinces, 13 province-level cities and 1,503 communes. Its capital is Rabat.
In terms of economy, Morocco ranks
fifth in Africa and third in North Africa. Phosphate export, tourism and
overseas remittance are the main pillars of Moroccan economy. Agriculture has a
certain foundation, but the country is not self-sufficient in grain. The
fishery resources are abundant, and the output ranks first in Africa. The
industrial development has gathered momentum, especially the automotive
industry, which is growing rapidly and beginning to take shape. Textile and
garment industry is one of the important industries. Morocco began to implement
economic reform in 1983, promoting enterprise privatization and trade
liberalization. After signing an association agreement with the EU in 1996, it
further optimized its economic structure, improved its investment environment,
strengthened infrastructure construction, and established a free trade area
with the EU in 2010. The Government of Morocco is committed to expanding
domestic demand, strengthening infrastructure construction, supporting
traditional industries such as textile and tourism, developing emerging
industries such as information and clean energy, actively attracting foreign
investment, and maintaining economic growth. In 2021, the GDP was USD 126.1
billion and the per capita GDP was USD 3,416. Morocco's currency is Dirham (USD
1≈Dirham 11.01).
Morocco has relatively developed land transport,
which plays a leading role in the domestic transport industry. 90% of passenger
transport and 75% of freight transport are completed by land transport. The
railway network is 2,295 km long; Tangier-Kenitra HSR, with a design speed of
350 km/h and an operating speed of 320 km/h, was put into operation in 2018,
being the first HSR project in Africa and Arab countries. The total length of
roads in Morocco is 42,158 kilometers, including 10,119 kilometers of Class I
highways, 9,253 kilometers of Class II highways and 22,768 kilometers of Class
III highways. There are more than ten maritime ports for water transport,
mainly including Casablanca, Jorf Lasfar, Tangier, Mohammedia, Safi and Agadir.
In terms of aviation, there are 28 airports, including 12 international
airports.
In terms of external relations, Morocco
pursues a non-aligned, flexible, pragmatic and pluralistic foreign policy and
attaches importance to the balanced development of its external relations. It
safeguards national independence and state sovereignty, and maintains and
strengthens traditional relations with western countries such as countries in
Europe and the United States. It focuses on strengthening unity within the Arab
world, particularly on developing relations with Gulf countries. It makes
efforts to play a role in international affairs, especially in the Middle East
peace process and the Islamic world. As of now, Morocco has established
diplomatic relations with nearly 150 countries.
Since the establishment of diplomatic
relations between Morocco and China on November 1, 1958, bilateral relations
have continued to develop healthily with deepening political friendship and
frequent exchanges of visits. Economic and trade cooperation further developed,
and bilateral trade grew steadily. The exchanges and cooperation between the
two countries in culture, news, health, youth sports,
tourism, education, local areas and other fields have been further
strengthened, with frequent visits by delegations.
2.1 History of
Railway Development
The railways in Morocco first appeared
in 1911, when France was a protectorate of Morocco. Three concessionaires in
France shared the operating rights of Morocco's railways; among them, CFM
operated the Marrakech-Oujda Line, TF (Tangier-Fas) the Tangier-Fas Line, and
CMO the Oujda-Bouarfa Line. After it became independent from France, Morocco
bought these three companies and established the Office national des chemins de
fer (ONCF) on August 5, 1963.
In its first 25 years of existence,
ONCF expanded the network to better serve the phosphate mining industry;
modernised railway infrastructure, electrified particularly high-capacity
lines; and introduced high-quality passenger services on selected routes. This
series of measures has led to a significant increase in passenger and freight
volumes. In the mid-1980s, Morocco already had a railway network of 1900 km
serving most of Morocco's main towns, ports, industrial and mining areas,
mainly involving three transport market sectors: monopoly transport of
phosphate rock from mines to ports, general cargo transport competing fiercely
with the road trucking industry, and intercity passenger transport with a
significant market share on the few routes it serves.
In recent years, Morocco's national
public authority has gradually increased its investment in railway
construction. The continent's first high-speed railway, Tangier-Kenitra HSR,
was officially put into operation on November 15, 2018. On January 2, 2023,
Morocco's Minister of Equipment and Logistics confirmed that the total funding
involved in the Plan Rail Maroc led by ONCF was expected to reach Dirham 400
billion. The "ambitious" plan includes 1,300km of high-speed railways
and more than 3,800km of conventional railways, with the goal of connecting the
entire territory to boost the country's economic growth and further meet
passenger transport demand. These projects would connect 43 cities in Morocco
(23 at present), guarantee railway transport coverage for 87% of the population
(51% currently) and improve connectivity with other modes.
2.2 Status of Railway Development
2.2.1 Industry Management
Currently, the organization in charge
of transport in Morocco is the Ministère du Transport et de la Logistique. The
Ministry is responsible for formulating and implementing government policies on
roads, maritime transport, civil aviation, railways and logistics within the
framework of existing laws and regulations, formulating government policy on
road safety and coordinating its implementation, and developing and
implementing strategies for cooperation between the Ministry and other
industries.
The main departments of the Ministry
include the General Secretariat, the General Inspectorate,
the Directorate for Transport Strategy, Guidance and Coordination, the
Directorate for Administrative, Legal and General Affairs, the Directorate for
Information Systems, the Directorate of Civil Aviation, the Road Transport
Authority and the Commercial Shipping Authority.
2.2.2 Railway Company
ONCF was established in 1963 as a
public industrial and commercial enterprise with financial autonomy under the
administrative supervision of the Ministère du Transport et de la Logistique.
ONCF's responsibilities mainly include the following three aspects: operating
the national railway network; studying, building and operating new railway
lines; running all companies directly or indirectly affiliated with ONCF.
ONCF provides services for national
railway passenger, freight and phosphate transport and passed ISO 9001
certification in 2007. The Company's core values are: safety, transparency,
commitment, rigor and quality.
To keep pace with travellers and
customers, ONCF developed a Code of Conduct and remained committed to
modernising the company: In terms of technological renewal, it continued to
invest in the modernization of infrastructure to provide customers with more reliable
and comfortable equipment; in terms of internal operation, it improved the
professional level of employees and ensured the sound management of company
finance; in terms of business behavior, it adopted a market-oriented aggressive
strategy and provided a perfect and innovative service system.
According to
the latest statistics, Morocco's railway network was 2,295 km long by the end
of 2020, including 1,473 kilometers of electrified railways, with an
electrification rate of 64.2%; 958 kilometers of double-track railways, with a
double-track rate of 41.7%.
(2) Status of
high-speed railway
In 2007, the
governments of Morocco and France signed a framework agreement for the design,
construction, operation and maintenance of Tangier–Kenitra–Rabat–Casablanca
HSR, which was part of the "Atlantic" high-speed line planned in
Morocco. The design speed of the line was 350 km/h, and the operating speed was
320 km/h. After completion, the travel time between Tangier and Casablanca
would be reduced from 4 hours and 45 minutes to 2 hours and 10 minutes, that
between Tangier and Rabat from 3 hours and 45 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes,
and that between Tangier and Kenitra from 3 hours and 15 minutes to 47 minutes.
On September
29, 2011, King Mohammed VI of Morocco officially launched the construction of
the Tangier-Kenitra section, which is about 200 km long. After the project was
completed successively, a series of dynamic tests were carried out from
February 2017 to check the operation of rolling stock and infrastructure.
During the tests, a speed of 320 km/h was reached on October 20, 2017 and an
African railway speed record of 357 km/h was set on May 4, 2018. On November
15, 2018, King Mohammed VI of Morocco and French President Emmanuel Macron
attended the inauguration ceremony of Tangier-Kenitra HSR, the first HSR on the
African continent, and took the first high-speed train.
3.2
Construction and Planning of Railway Network
(1) Construction planning of
conventional railway network
The Plan Rail
Maroc 2040 is a long-term development guiding plan for the national railway
network of Morocco until 2040. The plan mainly includes the following projects:
existing railway network maintenance and renovation project, new port railway
connection project, conventional railway network extension project (maximum
speed of 160 km/h), and high-speed railway network extension project (220 to
320 km/h). A budget for these projects will be about Dirham 400 billion.
According to ONCF, after the implementation of the 2040 railway plan, the
number of cities in Morocco connected by railway will increase from 23 to 43,
the number of ports connected with railway will increase from 6 to 12, and the
number of international airports connected with railway will increase from 1 to
15. The proportion of the population with access to railway services will
increase from 51% to 87%.
(2) High-speed railway construction
planning
According to the Guiding Outline of
Morocco's High-speed Railway Vision 2035, a total of 1,500 kilometers of high-speed
railways will be built by 2035. The planned high-speed railway lines include:
"Atlantic" high-speed line:
Tangier-Rabat-Casablanca- Marrakech-Essaouira-Agadir;
"Maghreb" high-speed line:
Casablanca-Rabat-Oujda; after that, it will pass through Algiers and Tunisia
before extending to Tripoli.
With the planning and construction of
1,500 km high-speed lines, ONCF expects its ridership to reach 133 million
passengers by 2035.
4 Railway Transport Management
Passenger transport products offered by
ONCF includes AL ATLAS passenger services (on Casablanca-Fas,
Casablanca-Marrakech, Tangier-Fas-Oujda-Nador, and Casablanca- Khouribga-Safi
routes), fast shuttle trains, trunk line trains, night trains, desert trains,
supplementary road transport (passengers are transported by bus to some areas
not yet accessible to railway).
According to the latest statistics, the
passenger volume of ONCF was 21.1 million passengers in 2020, with a decrease
of 44.9% compared with that in 2019; the passenger turnover was 2.409 billion
pkm, with a decrease of 49.8% compared with that 2019.
In order to meet the increasing demands
and expectations of passengers, ONCF has taken multiple measures to provide
better services and products, including offering adaptive services according to
demand, diversifying fare options and modernizing ticketing channels.
(1) It has increased train numbers and
improved punctuality
ONCF has gradually increased the number
of trains to provide passengers with more travel time options; it has shortened
travel time and improved punctuality.
(2) It provides diversified ticketing
channels
ONCF provides passengers with a variety
of ticketing channels, including railway station counters (paid in cash or by
credit card), ticket vending machines and websites, continuously improves the
efficiency of ticketing channels, and strengthens the capacities of reception,
assistance, and supervision personnel.
(3) It provides multiple fare options
In order to allow passengers to pay
appropriate fares according to their own situation, ONCF provides different
fare options for passengers based on factors such as the seat class, booking
date, travel date and time, and type of discount card. Tickets can be booked
three months in advance, and the earlier they are booked, the better the fare.
At present, discount types mainly include seniors’ card, youth card, student
card, children card and group ticket.
(4) It puts quality and comfort first
ONCF's requirements for service quality
mainly involve the following aspects: station reception conditions, comfort at
stations and on trains, air conditioning, public announcement equipment,
punctuality rate, seat availability, station hygiene, train hygiene, etc.
Following the ISO 9001 certification of its passenger services, ONCF is
committed to continually improving service quality by collaborating with
external professional agencies in conducting passenger satisfaction surveys and
developing targeted action plans based on these results.
(5) It provides a variety of extension
services for passenger transport
Train+Auto service: ONCF provides
train+car rental services to customers, to better solve the door-to-door
problems for customers. Railway stations where car rental services are
currently available include Tangier, Kenitra, Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech and
Fas.
Taxi booking: ONCF has cooperated with
Heetch to launch the ONCF TAXI service for booking taxies through the ONCF
TRAFIC app to facilitate passengers' travel to and from railway stations.
HSR station service: Al Boraq HSR
transport service connects 4 large railway stations, which are true hub centers
and harmoniously integrated into the city scenery. Passengers can feel the
convenience of traveling at these stations, including seamless connection
between railway stations and buses/taxies, spacious parking lots, advanced
station facilities, free Wi-Fi service, spacious and comfortable first-class
seat lounges, etc.
The categories of goods transported by
ONCF mainly include chemical products, minerals, energy products, cars and
agricultural products. In 2020, the freight volume of ONCF amounted to 24.5
million tons, with a decrease of 1.2% compared with that in 2019; the completed
freight turnover was 3.111 billion ton-kilometers, with little change compared
with that in 2019.
ONCF sees railway as the future of
freight transport and logistics. For this purpose, ONCF continuously optimizes
its service and logistics solutions.
(1) Freight service
In addition to mass transport,
environmental protection, space saving and resource conservation, ONCF is
committed to effectively meeting the expectations for railway transport in
terms of boosting economic development and actively participating in the
implementation of the national logistics competitiveness strategy. ONCF freight
specialists provide customers with complete, reliable, and secure design of
transport solutions to ensure the safe, low-cost, and punctual transport of
goods. They also offer additional services such as warehousing, loading and
unloading, and multimodal transport, and continuously optimize logistics
solutions.
(2) Freight rate
The ONCF Freight and Logistics
Department issued the General Conditions for the Transport of Goods by
Railway. The content of the document includes
material application, material submission, loading and unloading of goods, lead
sealing of wagons, transport of dangerous goods, signing of transport
contracts, transport fares, service invoices, etc. Among them, in the aspect of
"transport prices", according to customer demand and revenues, the
main factors considered for transport quotation include characteristics of
customer demand (type of goods, volume, loading and unloading capacity of
customer's terminal facilities, punctuality of transport, frequency of customer
demand), subdivision type of customer, preliminary transport plan, and
necessary facilities. The special conditions for the transport of goods are
defined by means of a cooperation agreement between ONCF and the customer.
5 Main Railway Technology and
Equipment
5.1 Track Engineering
For railway tracks in Morocco, 1435mm
standard gauge is adopted; rail types include 45kg/m, 45 to 54kg/m and 54kg/m,
with long welded rail accounting for 93% of the total; fasteners are Nabla
fasteners and rigid fasteners; the minimum curve radius is 300 m; the maximum
gradient is 2.5%; the maximum allowable axle load is 22t.
The completed Tangier-Kenitra HSR has a
maximum gradient of 3.5% and a maximum superelevation of 180mm/m, with about
one bridge and tunnel per kilometer and 10 viaducts (10 kilometers long in
total), and it is powered by 25kV OCS.
(1) Conventional speed rolling stock
In terms of passenger rolling stock,
ONCF has electric locomotives, diesel locomotives, coaches and sleeping cars.
In terms of freight rolling stock, ONCF
has vehicles suitable for transporting different goods: flat wagons, tank
wagons, covered wagons, and hopper wagons. The transported goods include
phosphate, coal, grain, fertilizer, barite, zinc, petroleum products, cement,
wood, gravel, sugar, canned food, containers, and steel.
According to the latest statistics, the
rolling stock of ONCF is as follows: 132 locomotives, 651 passenger trains and
4981 freight trains.
(2) High-speed train
The trains operating on the
Tangier–Kenitra high-speed line are 12 Euroduplex double-deck HSRs, built by
Alstom. Each train consists of eight cars including two first-class coaches,
five second-class coaches and a restaurant car, with 533 seats.
The maximum design speed is 350 km/h,
the maximum operating speed on the high-speed line is 320 km/h, and the speed
limit on the normal-speed line is 160 to 220 km/h. The trains can operate with
both the 25kV 50Hz AC system for high-speed lines and the 3kV DC system for
existing lines.
5.3
Communication and Signaling
In order to ensure that the railway
network operates in good conditions and maintains a high level of safety, ONCF
has strengthened railway safety facilities in a large scale in recent years and
implemented modernization plans, mainly including:
(1) Multiple journal temperature
detectors and brake lock detectors were installed and used;
(2) The signal remote control system
was used on some lines, and it will be extended to the rest of the railway
network in the future;
(3) Some dispatching office information
equipment projects were completed;
(4) The ERTMS I system was deployed in
the Casablanca-Rabat-Kenitra section.
5.4 Safety and
Disaster Prevention
ONCF has always put safety first and
foremost and regarded it as its core value. To this end, it runs an extensive
safety programme covering underpasses, overpasses, level crossings, fencing and
automatic equipment.
Safety measures for level crossings
include eliminating them on all new lines, accelerating the elimination of
existing ones and enhancing people’s awareness to level crossings. The total
cost of the programme amounts to Dirham 1.5 billion (including Dirham 700
million provided by ONCF, Dirham 400 million by the Ministère du Transport et
de la Logistique and the rest Dirham 400 million by local partners).
