MOROCCO: King Mohammed VI launched the construction of Casablanca Sud interchange station on September 24, kicking off a series of investments to facilitate the creation of a dense suburban rail operation in Casablanca.
No less than 260 track-km of new railway would be built, five maintenance and stabling facilities created, and larger depots would be built in Zenata and Nouaceur.
Three new lines
Also referred to as an RER network, the three suburban routes will cover 92 km around the conurbation.
These would serve the newly built stations at Mohammedia Facultés, and the Grand Stade de Casablanca on a greenfield branch line to Ben Slimane, both lying in the east of the city, the Casa Port terminus in the centre, and the Mohammed V International Airport in the south, where another new station would be built.
Services would run with headways of up to every 7 min 30 sec through the central core.
The 20bn dirham project is being financed 70% by national railway ONCF and 30% by the Casablanca-Settat regional authority.
The suburban rail network is scheduled to be launched before the start of the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which will have venues in Morocco. It is expected to handle 150 000 passengers a day.
The frequencies of existing regional services to El Jadida and Settat are also to be increased to every 30 min.
New stations
The programme scope covers construction of three new main line stations and 10 more dedicated to the suburban rail operation, while five existing stations are to be renovated.
The major hub at Casablanca Sud aims to provide interchange between Al Boraq high speed trains, regional, and suburban services.
The station would have a capacity of 12 million passengers a year and feature six platforms serving 10 tracks. Interchange would also be provided with tram Line 1 and local buses, and it would feature 700 parking spaces.
The total cost of Casablanca Sud station is estimated at 700m dirhams. It is scheduled to be completed by October 2027, along with the stations at Grand Stade and Mohammed V airport.
The other 10 suburban stations to be built are estimated to cost 625m dirhams. These would serve Zenata, Sidi Bernoussi, Ain Sbâa, Hay Mohammadi, Ville Nouvelle, Mers Sultan, L’Oasis, Sidi Maârouf, and Nouaceur. Their completion is expected by June 2027.
Double-deck EMUs
In February, Hyundai Rotem was selected for a €1·47bn contract to supply 110 double-deck 160 km/h electric multiple-units for suburban and regional services to operate across Morocco. Of these, 48 are intended to work the Casablanca suburban network.
As part of the contract, Hyundai Rotem is to establish a production facility in Morocco.
