Reinforcement of the transportation network
is under way by the Ministry of Equipment to cope with the increased traffic.
the "Societe Nationale des Autoroutes du Maroc" was established in 1989 to
construct and operate expressways in the Kingdom of Morocco. the Expressway
Network Program (total target length for north-south and west-east expressways
in Morocco: 1,500km), based on a master plan for expressways announced in 1995,
is being implemented, with 600km of expressway already opened between Rabat, Casablanca,
Fez, Meknes, Settat
and Tangier. The plan aims to connect the principal cities of the country to the
European expressway network by an expressway over the Straits of Gibraltar.
Casablanca and El Jadida expressway is under
construction and will be completed in 2005.Settat and Marrakech section will be
connected in 2006.The works on the section linking the Marrakech to Agadir will
be launched in 2006 and will be finished by 2009.
Railway network in Morocco
Morocco has one of the most modern railway
networks in Africa operated by the "Office National des Chemins de Fer" (ONCF). The
total route length of its lines is 1900 km with a total number of 97stations, 340
coaches and 27.500 seats. In 2002, it transported 15 million passengers. The
doubling of the lines connecting Rabat/Sidi Kacem was recently completed, that
of Sidi Kacem/Fez is under construction, those of Rabat/Meknes/Fez and
Casablanca/Marrakech will follow. In addition, the ONCF launched a program of
upgrading and modernizing the existing equipment and acquisition of new trains
in order to increase the capacity of the network, to decrease the durations and
to provide good quality service to its customers. In 2010, the ONCF will have
2.100 km of rails and is expected to transport 235.000 passengers each day.
Maritime network
The Ferry transports more 3 million passengers annually. The are 11 Quays for
the service of ferry-boats in 3 ports in northern Morocco (Tangier, Nador, and
El Hoceima). Their capacity reaches 80.000 passengers each day. The construction
of Tangier-Mediterranean port was launched during the summer 2003 and will be
completed in 2007; 4 new quays will operated in this port, making it possible to
reach a maximum capacity of 110.000 passengers each day.
Source : Morocco 2010 Association.
