Morocco - General Information

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Country Name

Morocco (Maroc)

National railway system

ONCF ( ONCFM in French - Office National des Chemins de Fer du Maroc)

Official Website

www.oncf.ma/Pages/Accueil.aspx

Language

Arabic and French

Currency

Moroccan Dirham, symbol MAD

UIC code

Numeric 93; alpha MA

Timetable

Journey Planner

www.oncf.ma/Pages/Accueil.aspx

Downloadable Timetable

http://www.oncf.ma/InfosPratiques/Pages/Telechargement.aspx. This link may need to be cut and pasted into your browser. Note that timetables often carry on out of the nominal date range until superseded.

Printed Timetable

None

Engineering Information

None

Maps

World Railway Atlas Vol. 7 North, East and Central Africa by Neil Robinson

Gauge

Standard

Electrification

3kV DC. All passenger lines are electrified except for the routes east of Fes to Oujda and Beni Nsar Port.

Rule of the road

Left

Other Railways

None

Tourist Lines

None

Metro

None.

Trams

  • Rabat – Salé. Revenue earning services started on 23 May 2011.
  • Casablanca. Revenue earning services started on 12 December 2012.

Recent and future changes

A new railway line opened on the 17th June 2009 between Tanger Ville and the huge new port of Tanger Med. The line has passenger services to Ksar Sghir, from where a coach connection is made to Tanger Med. The line to Tanger Med will eventually open to passenger trains as well, but no date has been set. The new railway from Taourirt to Beni Ksar Port was officially opened by King Mohammed VI on 10th July 2009, along with the two new stations at Nador, the major city on the line. In 2010 a new 27km cut-off between Sidi Yahya El Gharb and Mechraa Bel Ksiri allowed trains from Casablanca to Tanger to avoid the longer route via Sidi Kacem. The opening of Morocco’s first high speed line between Tanger and Kénitra is planned for December 2015. This 200 route-km section is the first phase of the planned Tanger – Casablanca high speed line. The trains will then run on the upgraded line from Kenitra to Casablanca, and construction of a third, parallel track, for freight was announced along with the other upgrading plans in September 2012. November 2012 saw the launch of the first phase of a project to double the Settat to Marrakech line, build a new station at Benguerir, and construct a 2 hectare ‘dry port’ at Sidi Ghanem on the outskirts of Marrakech.

Special Notes

The line from Oujda to Maghnia in Algeria has been closed for political reasons for some years, so Morocco has no rail connections to other countries.