Alstom trains planned for France-backed Moroccan high-speed expansion

Railway components in a rolling-stock assembly hall

Financing for a proposed train purchase

France plans to lend Morocco €781 million to purchase 18 Alstom high-speed trains for state-owned railway operator ONCF. The French embassy in Rabat announced the financing on 7 March 2025.

The embassy specified double-deck Avelia Horizon trains with capacity for 640 passengers and a speed of 320 km/h. They form part of the planned Kenitra–Marrakech extension before the 2030 World Cup, co-hosted by Morocco, Spain and Portugal.

The wider railway programme

ONCF aims to serve 43 cities by 2040, twice its existing coverage, reaching 87% of Morocco’s population. Its programme covers urban, intercity and high-speed services.

In February 2025, ONCF outlined another 150 trains financed through Spain and South Korea: 110 urban trains from Hyundai Rotem and 40 intercity trains from CAF.

Alstom’s Moroccan rail programme milestones

Earlier investment in Moroccan industry

Alstom’s Fez plant produces electrical wiring and Mitrac transformers. The company announced an expansion in 2020 and a second production line in 2021. Its July 2023 driving-cab investment programme appears at https://www.alstom.com/press-releases-news/2023/7/alstom-boosts-investment-moroccan-rail-industry.

The July 2023 plan allocated 160 million dirhams to a second rail plant and anticipated 200 direct jobs by 2025. At that time, Alstom reported 850 employees at the Fez site, 56% of them women, and about 950 employees across Morocco. These figures describe the earlier industrial programme.

Alstom corporate wordmark

An existing high-speed fleet

The Tangier–Casablanca high-speed line was inaugurated on 15 November 2018. Alstom had supplied ONCF with 12 Avelia Euroduplex trains and on-board ERTMS equipment. The company’s https://www.alstom.com/press-releases-news/2018/11/alstom-heart-tangier-casablanca-high-speed-lines-inauguration-morocco gives the earlier fleet’s configuration:

Eight cars and capacity for 533 passengers.
Two first-class cars, a dining car and five second-class cars.
Passenger information in Arabic and French.

The 2018 service programme specified 320 km/h on the 180-kilometre Tangier–Kenitra high-speed section and 160 km/h on the 200-kilometre conventional section to Casablanca. Its published journey-time target was two hours and ten minutes, compared with four hours and 45 minutes previously. Those specifications concern the existing Euroduplex project.