MOROCCO IS ACCELERATING! feature - Alstom

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