ONCF

Office National des Chemins de Fer du Maroc
Reporting mark	ONCF, ONCFM
Locale	Morocco
Dates of operation	1963–present
Predecessor	Compagnie des chemins de Fer du Maroc ("CFM"); Compagnie franco-espagnole du chemin de fer de Tanger à Fès ("TF")
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) (standard gauge)
Length	1,907 km
Headquarters	8, rue Abderrahmane El Ghafiki, Rabat - Agdal

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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 8¹⁄₂ in) standard gauge. 1,003 km electrified (2006).^[1]

[edit] History

ONCF was created january 1st, 1963 as a merger of

Railways of Morocco (CFM) (french Compagnie des chemins de fer du Maroc)
Railway of Western 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]

[edit] Network

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 Fez and Meknes connecting to the N-S tracks.

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. The tracks through Nador are underground. The remainder of the route to Taorirt follows the same route as the current national road.

Another project under construction is a short-cut between Rabat and Tanger. When completed trains can 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.

ONCF train in Casablanca.

Construction of underground line through Nador
_{This line was opened in July 2009}

[edit] Towns served by railways

Main article: Railway stations in Morocco

[edit] Railway links to adjacent countries

Algeria, but the latter is closed since the '90s. - same gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8¹⁄₂ in)

[edit] Operations

ONCF operates in three main sectors:

Passenger transportation; 23.5 million passenger-journeys (2006)^[2]
Goods transportation; 35 million tonnes (2006)^[2]
including phosphates transportation.

[edit] Planned high speed line

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.^[3] 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.^[4]

In October 2007 French company Alstom announced it would supply 18 TGV Duplex trains to ONCF in 2008. The trains will run at 320 km/h between Tanger, Rabat and Casablanca.^[5]

[edit] Other projects

[edit] Affiliations

ONCF is a member of the following organizations:

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

[edit] Pictures

DF 100 (similar to SNCF 72000)	DF 115 (former SNCF 72000) near Taourirt	DH 370 with a passenger train between Oujda and Taourirt	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