Railways: Morocco’s ONCF Receives First Batch of Prima Electric Locomotives

Morocco’s national railway operator ONCF has received lately the first of 30 Prima M4 locomotives being manufactured by the French Alstom company under a €130 million deal concluded in 2018 between the two sides.

The Prima M4 locomotives have a nominal power of 5.5 MW. The maximum running speed is 160km/h. Being electric, the M4 uses 3KV DC. All 30 of the locomotives are fitted with ETCS Level 1.

According to Alstom, the new generation of locomotives will require minimal maintenance and will be highly reliable. Alstom has contributed to several structuring projects in Morocco, such as the delivery of Citadis trams to the cities of Rabat and Casablanca, and 12 Avelia Euroduplex trains for the High Speed Line, which links Tangier to Casablanca.

In its plant in Fez, Alstom produces cable bundles for rail applications and electrical switchboxes that are supplied to its European plants and mounted on trains exported around the world.