Morocco’s state-owned railway operator, the Moroccan National Railways Office (ONCF), has awarded France’s NGE Group a $110-million contract to upgrade one section of the Kenitra-Marrakesh rail line, part of Morocco’s $14.3-billion high-speed rail development plan.

NGE, through its subsidiaries TSO, TSO Catenaires and NGE Maroc, will overhaul the existing rail line from the city of Casablanca to the adjacent city of Nouaceur as ONCF pushes ahead to extend the high-speed rail line connecting Tangiers in the north of the country to Kenitra to an eventual link to the country's popular tourist destination of Marrakech. 

ONCF completed construction of a 200-km high-speed line between Tangier and Kenitra in 2015 after four years of work, the first high-speed rail line in Africa. The project substantially reduced travel time between Tangiers and Marrakech, even though only a portion of that route qualifies as high-speed rail.

Completion of the planned national high-speed line plan, linking Morocco’s major cities of Tangiers, Marrakech, Casablanca and Rabat, is just one part of the country's $37-billion Rail Morocco 2040 Plan. That effort consists of $9.29 billion to add 1,600 km to the conventional rail network, $14.31 billion to build 1,100 km of high-speed rail and $3.2 billion to enhance at least 1,610 km of existing rail.

MoroccoHSR2.pngMap courtesy ONCF


NGE’s President Jean Bernadet says the Kenitra-Marrakech project will help Morocco “address the challenges of ecological transition, particularly by developing low-carbon mobility infrastructure.”

ONCF has picked a French-Moroccan consortium led by Egis, with Systra and Novec, as the project management assistance contractor of the 430-km Kenitra-Marrakech high-speed line set for completion in 2029, ahead of the 2030 World Cup to be jointly hosted by Morocco, Spain and Portugal.

The Kenitra-Marrakesh line will serve the five rail stations of Casa Sudi, Sidi Maarouf, Bouskoura, New Nouaceur and Mohammed V International Airport. Train speed has been designed for 320 km per hour over the 430 km distance, with ONCF saying the project will boost Morocco’s drive to decarbonize the transport sector through investing in low-carbon modes of transportation. 

Lot 3 of the project under the NGE contract entails design and renovation of the existing line by removing the existing tracks and installing new ones, supplying and installing the line’s catenary system. The consortium will also undertake other tasks such as earthmoving, civil engineering, drainage, platform construction and revamp of the road system.

Currently Morocco has a 2,300-km rail network, including 200km of high-speed rail, with at least 120 passenger stations and 15 freight stations.

NGE Group’s entry into Morocco’s high-speed rail development plan further increases the number of foreign firms from France and China participating in the wider Rail Morocco 2040 Plan. 

The development of Morocco’s high-speed railway program has seen ONCF award contracts to Chinese firms China Railways Number 4 Engineering Group, Shandong Hi-Speed Group and China Overseas Engineering Corp.