Morocco positions itself among the world’s first countries alongside France and the United States to adopt Alstom’s latest high-speed train generation. The French mobility leader announced that following comprehensive testing programs, submitting the TGV M market authorization request to the European Railways Agency marks the beginning of the final homologation phase and represents a milestone in developing the Avelia Horizon platform.
SNCF Voyageurs submitted the TGV M market authorization dossier to ERA on December 9, with commercial service launch scheduled for July 1, 2026. Morocco stands among the earliest nations globally to order the new TGV generation, with the Moroccan market featuring prominently in the French giant’s priorities.
Alstom laid the first stone for train control desk activity at its Fes site in the presence of French Ambassador Christophe Lecourtier, Fes-Meknes Regional Governor Khalid Ait Taleb, CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge, ONCF Director General Mohamed Rabie Khlie, and Consul General Carine Foeller Viallon. The milestone also marks launching the first electrical harness destined for the new Avelia Horizon, a strategic project strengthening Morocco’s railway ecosystem and sustainable mobility.
Alstom announced a 100 million dirham strategic investment in December to expand and diversify its industrial capabilities in Morocco. The initiative establishes the world’s first dedicated multi-platform production line for train control desks, positioning the kingdom as an international reference in the railway industrial value chain. Martin Vaujour, Alstom’s Africa Middle East and Central Asia president, emphasized that control desks manufactured in Morocco will equip projects worldwide, demonstrating the region’s capacity to provide strategic industrial solutions.
The broader industrial development plan includes doubling transformer production capacity and creating a development and engineering office to strengthen local expertise. Alstom, already employing over 1,400 people in Morocco, has delivered key projects including 270 Citadis trams for Rabat and Casablanca, 12 Avelia Euroduplex trains for the Tangier-Casablanca high-speed line, and 77 Prima locomotives.
Alstom signed a contract with ONCF for supplying 18 Avelia Horizon very high-speed trains, recorded in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2024/2025. The high-speed line extension to Marrakech will improve passenger connectivity, with double-deck trains significantly reducing travel time between Tangier and Marrakech while minimizing carbon footprint.
