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As part of the continued implementation of its development strategy, the National Railway Office (ONCF) received, on Friday, the first locomotive that is part of the acquisition of 30 electrics locomotives “latest generation”.
These new acquisitions, the delivery of which will be made at the rate of two to three locomotives per month, were the subject of an international invitation to tender after which the contract was awarded in 2018 to Alstom for a total amount of around 1.5 billion dirhams, says an ONCF press release.
Financed entirely by a loan granted by the French State, with a maturity of 40 years, with a grace period of 10 years and an interest rate of 0.0016%, this amount covers the equipment, parts spare parts and park parts, specifies the source. Compliant with the norms and standards of the International Union of Railways (UIC), these latest generation locomotives, capable of a maximum speed of 160 km/h, are designed according to ultramodern characteristics and specificities: on-board IT, assistance with driving, redundancy of the control and security system, video recording system, etc. With this acquisition, the ONCF intends to support an ever-increasing demand for rail mobility, modernize, rejuvenate and strengthen the rolling stock, increase productivity and increase the supply of transport, both for long-distance travelers and goods, we read in the press release.
Thus, these locomotives are called upon to ensure the connection with the high-speed trains “Al Boraq” on the highly requested axes namely, Casablanca-Fès and Casablanca-Marrakech, further reinforcing the new train travel experience.
For the Freight and Logistics activity, the source continues, they will make it possible to cope with the rail transport of cars manufactured at the PSA factory in Kenitra to the port of Tangier Med and to transport the containers from said port to Casablanca.
In addition, it should be recalled that this operation is the first in a series of planned progressive acquisitions of rolling stock, including in particular self-propelled trains for the transport of passengers and wagons for the transport of goods. It constitutes a logical continuation of the major infrastructure projects carried out and inaugurated in November 2018 by His Majesty King Mohammed VI May God assist him, having enabled the Office to strengthen sober and sustainable mobility at the service of citizens and operators economic, while improving the quality of its services and the level of its performance, concludes the press release.
