ONCF or ONCFM (in French - Office National des Chemins de Fer du Maroc, National Office for Railways of Morocco) is Morocco's national railway operator. The Office employs around 9,767 employees and has a network of 1,907 km, all 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) standard gauge. 1,003 km electrified (2006).^[1]

History[link]

ONCF was created January 1, 1963 as a merger of

• Railways of Morocco (CFM) (French Compagnie des chemins de fer du Maroc)
• Railway of Eastern Morocco (CMO) (French Compagnie du chemin de fer du Maroc oriental)
• Franco-Spanish company of Tanger-Fès (TF) (French Compagnie franco-espagnole du Tanger-Fès)
• Mediterranean-Niger-Railway (MN) (French Chemins de Fer de la Méditerranée au Niger)

The railways have been state-owned since 1963. ONCFM is now expected to be replaced by SMCF, a limited company.^[2]

Network[link]

Moroccan Railnet

The network has a North-South track from Tanger via Rabat and Casablanca to Marrakech. This line connects all major cities along or close to the Atlantic coast.

The other main link is the Northern East to West link from Oujda via Fes and Meknes to Rabat connecting to the N-S tracks in Kentira.

Extension[link]

A major investment program upgrades and extends the network. In 2009, a branch-line of the E-W link was finished, running from Taourirt for 100 km to Nador. This track runs down from the Rif mountains to sealevel at Nador. Most of the route from Taourirt follows the same route as the current national road. The tracks through Nador are underground and after Nador-Ville the track continues to the Port of Nador in Bin Anşār overground again. This new branch-line is used for both passenger and freight trains.

Another project under construction is a short-cut between Rabat and Tanger. When completed trains could run directly to Rabat and Casablanca without having to use the longer route via Meknes. Also in the North a new track is built between Tanger and Ras R'Mel.

Other routes under construction are:

• Casablanca to El-Jadida
• Bypass Meknes, on the Rabat-Fes route

Not yet under construction, but planned are:

• Marrakech - Agadir, and further South to Laayoune
• Oued Zem - Beni Mellal

The platform at the Casablanca Voyageurs station. File:Casaport-train-juillet-091.jpg ONCF train in Casablanca.

Freight only[link]

Oujda Railway Station is the last station for passengers on the East-West link. The lines south of Oudja are for freight only.

Towns served by railways[link]

Railway links to adjacent countries[link]

• Algeria, but the latter is closed since the '90s. - same gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in)
• Melilla, Spain - train terminates at Nador Port, on walking distance of Melilla

Services[link]

On the mainline several trains are operated per day. In the first class all chairs are assigned seats. On three main routes the ONCF operate special "hotel trains" with either full beds in private rooms of couchettes. These "Voyage de Nuit" is available on^[3]:

• Casablanca-Oujda via Rabat, Sale, Fes and Taourirt: Train – Hôtel : Dep. Casablanca: 21:15 Arriving Oujda at 07:00
• Oujda-Casablanca, Departure: 21:00, Taourirt 22:43, Fes: 03:00 Rabat: 06:15, Casablanca: 07:15

• Marrakech-Tanger via Casablanca, Rabat, Kenitra: Departure: 21:00, Casa: 0:45, Rabat: 1:57, Tanger: 07:25
• Tanger-Marrakech: Tanger:21:05, Kenitra: 2:35, Rabat: 3:15, Casablanca: 4:30, Marrakech: 08:05

• Casablanca - Nador:^[4]: Departure: 19:45, Fes: 0:15, Nador arrival: 06:00
• Nador-Casablanca: Nador Ville: 19:43, Fes: 01:00, Casablanca: 06:15 (Marrakech: 10:05 with train of 06:50 from Casa)

And on the route Tanger-Nador vv there is no official "night train" with beds or couchettes, but there is a night service from Tanger to Oujda or Nador^[4]

• Nador-Tanger: Departure: 17:43, Fes: 01:00 and arrival in Tanger: 07:00
• Tanger-Nador: Departure: 21:35, Fes: 2:30, Taourirt: 7:45, Nador: 09:32

Operations[link]

ONCF operates in three main sectors:^[5]

• Passenger transportation; 29.6 million passenger-journeys (2009)
• Goods transportation; 35 million tonnes (2009)
• including phosphates transportation.

Key figures[link]

The turnover of the ONCF was growing, both in passengers and freight, until the decline of the economy in 2007. The number of passengers is still growing but freight figures are down. The total income on passengers (sold train tickets) and freight was in 2009 2,7 billion dirham.

Planned high speed line[link]

On September 2006 ONCF proposed a high-speed rail connecting Tangier to Marrakech which will reduce the time of the journey from around 10 hours to only 2 and half hours.^{[6] [7]} This service, if approved, may not be in operation until 2030. In 2007 Systra was appointed to design a 350 km/h alignment between Settat and Marrakech.^[8]

This first part of the Atlantique high-speed link will open in 2015. When operational trains with a capacity of 500 passengers will run every hour and even every 30 minutes in the rush-hour. The CEO of the ONCF, Mohammed Rabie Khlie, expects to carry 8 million passengers per year. The high-speed network should be available for the average Moroccan citizen.^[9]

In December 2010, a contract was signed with Alstom to provide 14 trainsets based on the TGV Duplex.^[10][11]

Electrified[link]

The network that will carry the high-speed-network, from Tanger via Fes to Rabat and Marrakech are currently already electrified. The lines to the East of Fes are diesel powered only and the majority of the track is single: opposite trains pass each other at selected train-stations.

Investments[link]

For the Tanger-Casablanca line the ONCF will invest 20 billion Moroccan dirham (approx.US$ 2,5 bln.). Half of this money is needed to construct the track. From the other half 5,6 bln.dirham is needed for technology around the tracks and the remaining 4,4 bln. is needed for the rolling stock.^[6]

The funding of this project is coming from the state (4,8 bln. dirham), one billion from the Hasan II fund for social and economic development. France and the rest of Europe will donate some 2 billion dirham. The remaining 12,3 billion dirham is funded via loans under favourable conditions^[9]

Other projects[link]

Besides the high-speed link discussed above, the company is also developing other projects, including new rail links and extending the network's reach southwards of Marrakech.^[2] One of the new links recently being constructed is a branch line from Taourirt to Nador. On 10 July 2009 king Mohammed VI of Morocco opened the two new railway stations in Nador and the line to Taourirt^[12]

Affiliations[link]

ONCF is a member of the following organizations:

• International Union of Railways (UIC)
• Arab Union of Railways
• Comité du Transport Ferroviaire Maghrebin (CTFM).

Pictures[link]

• 

  DF 100 (similar to SNCF 72000)

• 

  DF 115 (former SNCF 72000) near Taourirt

• 

  DH 370 with a passenger train between Fez and Taza

• 

  Z2M double-decker trainset between Sidi Kacem and Meknès

• 

  E 1100 with an empty phosphate train near Tamdrost

• 

  E 1350 (stronger version of the E 1300) with a loaded phosphate train on its way to Casablanca, near Tamdrost

See also[link]

• Rail transport in Morocco
• Transport in Morocco
• Strait of Gibraltar crossing
• List of stock used by ONCF

References and notes[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Railfan Europe

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