French Consortium Awarded Moroccan High Speed Rail Contract

Moroccan Rail Operator ONCF has awarded signalling and telecommunications contracts to a French consortium of Ansaldo STS and Cofely Ineo.

The contract, worth €120m, was signed in the presence of King Mohammed VI of Morocco and French president Mr François Hollande.

Consortium leader Ansaldo STS will provide telecommunications, automated train control, and signalling based on systems already in operation in France. There will also be a central control facility in Rabat. Wayside power supply and cabling networks will be supplied by Cofely Ineo, (GDF SUEZ group). High speed trains will use the network at speeds of up to 320 km per hour. Journey times between Tangier and Casablanca will be cut from 3h 40 min to 2h 20 min.

The railway is expected to be completely operational by December 2015, when ONCF is confident usage will grow from the present 52 million journeys to 133 million.

Both companies pledge to ensure the project develops local knowledge transfer and partnerships to contribute to the social and economic development of Morocco.

Under a €400m contract awarded in 2010, Alstom will provide a fleet of double-deck high speed trains.