AFD contribuye a la financiación de la ampliación del tranvía de Casablanca

The French Development Agency granted Morocco a loan of EUR 100 million to complete the completion of trams in the city of Casablanca, Morocco's largest city, some 80 km south of Rabat.

This loan, in addition to a EUR 500 000 grant, was made under an agreement signed on Monday between the French Agency and the Casablanca Transport Company (public) to complete the third and fourth tram lines in this city.

On 2 November 2020, in the presence of the French ambassador to Morocco, Hélene le Gal, the company Casa Transport and the French Development Agency signed a technical and financial agreement which will implement the project already begun in 2012, with initial funding of 23 million euros for the construction of the first urban tram line, followed by a second funding in 2017, 30 million euros for the construction of the second line.

This partnership takes a step forward, marked by the implementation of a new financing package of EUR 100 million. "Through this new partnership, the AFD supports Casa Transport in the implementation of an efficient, low-carbon transport system that will help facilitate access to public transport services for the greatest number of people and thus facilitate urban mobility and access to employment," said Hélène Le Gal, French Ambassador to Morocco.

For Nabil Belabed, CEO of Casa Transport, the implementation of lines T3 and T4 is an important step in the implementation of Casablanca's urban travel plan, the ultimate goal being "to offer a quality collective transport network, as extensive as possible, and to provide efficient intermodality with other modes of transport", Belabed stressed.

With a length of 14 km, the T3 line (Boulevard Abdelkader Essahroui to Casa Port station through the city centre) will have 20 stations and five multimodal connection points. The T4 line (Boulevard Okba Ibnou Nafiaa to Parc de la Ligue Arabe via Boulevard Mohamed VI) will be 12.5 km long with 19 stations and four transfer points. The two lines will be built simultaneously and will require a total investment of 7 billion dirhams (650 million euros) to be put into service by 2024.

Made up of Alstom Citadis trains, the Casablanca tramway (47.5 km, two lines and 71 stations at present) is operated by the Moroccan subsidiary of the French RATP Dev (Régie Autonomous des Transports Parisiens) under the authority of Casa Transport. It has transported 100 million passengers since it entered service in December 2012. In September 2017, RATP Dev won a tender from the Casablanca organising authority for a 12-year period. This new contract includes the commissioning, operation and maintenance of four new tram lines and two BRT lines (high level service buses).