Rail transport in Morocco
Rail transport in Morocco is operated by the national railway operator ONCF. It was initially developed during the.
High speed rail
On was launched the first high-speed rail line linking Casablanca and Tangier. It is called Al-Boraq in reference to the mythical creature that transported the Islamic prophets. This 323-kilometer-long high-speed rail service is operated by the ONCF. The first of its kind on the African continent, the line was inaugurated on by King Mohammed VI of Morocco following over a decade of planning and construction.The line is constructed in two sections—a new route from Tangier to Kenitra and an upgrade of the existing route from Kenitra to Casablanca.
The Tangier-Kenitra line has a top speed of, while the Kenitra-Casablanca line was rated for when service began, with a planned upgrade to . The trackage from Kenitra to Casablanca is planned to be eventually replaced by a new high-speed right of way, with construction scheduled to begin in 2020.
At the launch of service in 2018, the travel time between Casablanca and Tangier was reduced from 4 hours and 45 minutes to 2 hours and 10 minutes. The completion of dedicated high-speed trackage into Casablanca would further reduce the end-to-end travel time to 1 hour and 30 minutes. Al-Boraq trains are scheduled to depart Casablanca and Tangier every hour from 06:00 until 21:00.
| Route | Travel time on the old classic railway | Travel time in 2018 | Travel time in 2020 |
| Tangier-Kenitra | 3h15 | 50 min | 47 min |
| Tangier-Rabat | 3h45 | 1h20 | 1h00 |
| Tangier-Casablanca | 4h45 | 2h10 | 1h30 |
| Rabat-Casablanca | 55 min | 50 min | 30 min |
train in Tanger-Ville.
As of 2019, the rolling stock operating on the line consists of 12 Alstom Euroduplex trainsets, with each set comprising two power cars and eight bilevel passenger cars. The passenger capacity is 533 across two first-class cars, five second-class cars, and a food-service car.
The Tangier - Casablanca line is the first phase of what is planned to eventually be a 1,500 kilometers high-speed rail network in Morocco.
Main connections
The main network for passenger-transport consists of a North–South link from Tangier via Rabat and Casablanca to Marrakech and the East–West connection linking Oujda in the East via Fes to Rabat. The North–South and East–West links interconnect at Sidi-Kacem. Major destinations currently not linked by rail are usually served by Supratours, a bus company operated by the ONCF.The most important long-distance train services are:
| From: | To: | via / change at: | traveltime | Number of trains per day |
| Casablanca | Tangier | Al-Boraq trains stop at Rabat-Agdal and Kenitra | 2h10m | 14 x |
| Casablanca | Fes | – | 3h20m | 18 x |
| Casablanca | Oujda | direct or via Fes | 10h | 3 x |
| Casablanca | Nador | direct, via Fes or with transfer in Taourirt | 8h30m up to 10h | 4 trains/day of which 2 are night-trains |
| Marrakech | Fes | – | 7h10m | 8 x |
| Marrakech | Tangier | via Casablanca Voyageurs | 9h30m | 6 x one direct night-train |
| Tangier | Oujda | direct link at daytime night-train change at Sidi Kacem | 10h20m 10h35m | one day train, one night-train |
| Nador | Taourirt | gives connection to E–W mainline | 1h42m | 3 x |
| Casablanca | Oued Zem | – | 3h | 1 x |
| Casablanca | El Jadida | – | 1h25 | 8x |
| Safi | Benguerir | gives connection to N-S mainline | 2h | 2x |
-Ville station
Night trains
The ONCF operates special night-trains on the long-distance main-line links. The following routes offer night-trains:These long-distance trains operate with non-motorized passenger cars that have individual compartments. Second class compartments have two couches opposite each other, each couch offering 4 places. In first-class cars each compartment offers 2 × 3 places and foldable arm-rests divides the places. In 1st class, each passenger has a reserved assigned seat.
Each compartment has its own door to the aisle and curtains can be drawn to keep the compartment dark. In the night-trains, passengers in a 2nd class compartment tend to draw the curtains, switch off the lights and close the sliding door, hoping that no passengers will enter their compartment so the existing cabin passengers might have more space. In 1st class, however, each seat is manually assigned. Thus, the system is not used.
When trains are not busy, couches are usually empty, so passengers can lie down at times.
Besides these 'normal' compartments they also offer sleeper-cars with bedrooms/compartments or couchettes. A bed or couchette has fixed price, regardless of the travelling route or distance. Beds and couchettes have to be reserved when tickets are brought.
Marrakech–Tangier section
On each day, there is only one train on the Marrakech-Tangier section in each direction. On this route the standard 6 or 8 person compartments are available as well as the 4 person couchette-compartments.Timetable for this section:
Northbound: Marrakech, Casablanca Voyageurs, Rabat-Ville, Kentira, Sidi-Kacem, Tangier.
Southbound: Tangier, Sidi-Kacem, Kentira, Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech.
Casablanca–Oujda section
Besides normal running trains, this section also runs a special [|hotel train] service. This train only offers reserved sleeping compartments, compared to other normal services. The train service opened on 29 June 2010. It was also featured in the James Bond film Spectre.Timetable for this section:
Northbound: Oudja 21:00, Taorirt, Fez, Kentira, Rabat, Casablanca-Voyageurs
Southbound: Casablanca-Voyageurs, Rabat, Kentira, Fez, Taorirt, Oujda.
Hotel train service timetable:
Northbound: 21:00 Oujia-Casablanca
Southbound: 21:15 Casablanca-Oujda
Casablanca–Nador section
Nador is not the start or terminus; trains run from/to nearby Bin Anşār or Nador Port.The night-train on this route only offers 2 person sleeping compartments with full beds. No couchettes are available.
As the train does not go to Taourirt, there is no need to change driving-direction and thus no need to move the engine. The day trains all stop at Taourirt and as the link to Nador is actually before the station of Taourirt the direction of travel has to change, including moving the locomotive from one end to the other.
Timetable for this section:
Northbound: Nador, Fez, Casablanca.
Southbound: Casablanca, Fez, Nador.
Tangier–Nador section
Trains on this section normally run to and from Bin Anşār or Nador Port.Timetable for this section:
Northbound: Nador, Fes, Tangier
Southbound: Tangier, Fes, Nador.
Urban
Light rail
- Casablanca tramway
- Rabat–Salé tramway
- :fr:Tramway de Marrakech|Marrakech Tramway Page in French
- Tangier Tramway
Heavy rail
- Train Navette Rapide : Rapid transit rail from Rabat to Casablanca extended to Kenitra and Settat ;
- * Casablanca Airport rail link ;
- * Casablanca – El Jadida Rapid transit line ;
- Al Bidaoui : Casablanca overground rail ;
- * Casablanca RER line
- Le Bouregreg : Rabat overground rail ;
Projects
History
Railway links to adjacent countries
- Algeria, route has been closed since the 1990s. – tracks use same gauge
- Gibraltar, no connection; a ferry service connects Gibraltar to the Tanger-Med port and railway station
- Spain: Since 2003 there are studies being done about the creation of a direct link with Spain via a railway tunnel under the Strait of Gibraltar. This tunnel will connect the Moroccan rail-infrastructure with the European via Spain. In Tangier the tunnel would connect to the currently-being-built High Speed Line Tangier-Marrakech.
- Western Sahara: Via the proposed network-extension from Marrakech via Guelmim to El Aaiún would connect Morocco to the Western Sahara. Currently ONCF daughter-company Supratours operate bus-routes from Marrakech to Western-Sahara such as Tan-Tan or Laâyoune. Morocco claims Western Sahara as part of Morocco and thus as national routes.
- Mauritania: A section of the Mauritania Railway; which, cuts across the extreme south-eastern corner of the Western Sahara.