MOROCCO IS ACCELERATING! feature - Alstom
MOROCCO IS ACCELERATING! feature - Alstom
MOROCCO IS ACCELERATING! feature - Alstom
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16<br />
<strong>feature</strong><br />
The Tangiers-Casablanca line: Duplex in sight<br />
On 10 December 2010, Morocco signed a contract with <strong>Alstom</strong> to supply 14 double-decker (Duplex) very<br />
high-speed trainsets. These trains will run on the Tangiers-Casablanca line which serves the north of the Kingdom.<br />
Entry into commercial service is planned for December 2015. The Duplex Morocco trainsets are doubledecker<br />
trains designed for the ONCF and adapted to the operating conditions defi ned by the operator.<br />
They will be operated at 320 km/h under 25 kV between Tangiers and Kenitra, the fi rst 200 km section<br />
of the Moroccan very high-speed network. Between Kenitra and Casablanca, the trainsets will run on<br />
the conventional network at speeds of 160 km/h or 220 km/h under 3 kV, depending on the operating speed<br />
planned by the Moroccan customer in 2015. The very high-speed service between Tangiers and Casablanca<br />
will reduce the journey time from 4 hours 45 minutes today to 2 hours 10 minutes and transport up to 10 million<br />
passengers. With capacity for 533 passengers, each trainset will comprise eight coaches, including two<br />
in fi rst class, one restaurant car and fi ve cars in second class. The interior and exterior design, customised<br />
to meet the Moroccan operator’s requirements, will express modernity and quality, comfort and serenity.<br />
Particular attention will be paid to easy access to cars and to passenger safety.<br />
� grew<br />
The future tramway between Rabat and Sale.<br />
sixfold. Because of massive exodus<br />
from the countryside, half of the country’s<br />
31 million inhabitants now live in cities that are<br />
growing exponentially: 4 million inhabitants<br />
for Casablanca, 1.8 million for Rabat,<br />
1.4 million for Fes, 700,000 for Tangiers…<br />
Congested and polluted by car traffi c,<br />
these large cities are suffocating and<br />
companies are stalling to establish bases<br />
there. To create an attractive public transport<br />
system which respects the environment,<br />
fi rst Rabat, then Casablanca decided<br />
to follow the example of Tunis and install<br />
the fi rst tramways in the history of Morocco.<br />
This sustainable method of transport adapts<br />
perfectly to renovation and improvement<br />
projects while also providing real social utility.<br />
From 2011 onwards, two lines<br />
– respectively 11.5 km for 22 stations and<br />
7.5 km for 14 stations – will connect Rabat<br />
to Sale, linking the city with its seafront and<br />
each day offering a quality service<br />
to 180, 000 users. <strong>Alstom</strong>’s Citadis will<br />
contribute to lending the imperial city a new<br />
unity, lacking at present in its development<br />
on either side of the Bouregreg Valley.<br />
In Casablanca, the tramway will become<br />
a part of a vast transport network which,<br />
by 2030, will converge at the new station<br />
of Casa-Port, today a building site, to include<br />
high-speed trains, mainline trains, suburban<br />
trains, metros, tramways and busses.<br />
A fi rst line – 28 km for 40 stations crossing<br />
the city from east to west – which will be<br />
operational in 2012, will provide<br />
the anticipated 250,000 daily users, access<br />
to major facilities: universities, stations,<br />
city centre, business district, hospitals,<br />
shopping malls, Technopark, Grand Stade.<br />
Tangiers, Agadir and Marrakech are already<br />
approaching private investors to become<br />
part of this great adventure in turn.<br />
A foretaste of intermodality for the entire<br />
country…