The French Development Agency (AFD) has signed a loan agreement with the Moroccan government providing 100 million euros in financing for the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra Regional Express Network (RER), marking a significant addition to the multilateral funding stack behind one of the country’s most consequential urban infrastructure projects. The RER is designed to connect Kénitra in the north to Skhirat in the south via Salé, Rabat, Témara, and Aïn Atik, with a planned service frequency of 15 minutes throughout the day.
The project sits at the intersection of two strategic imperatives: improving mobility in Morocco’s administrative capital region and preparing the country’s transport infrastructure for the 2030 FIFA World Cup, which Morocco will co-host with Spain and Portugal. The Rabat RER is part of a broader national railway program with a total envelope of 96 billion dirhams, which also includes the extension of the high-speed line from Kénitra to Marrakech — a 430-kilometre project — and the development of regional rail services around Casablanca and Marrakech.
To fund this program, Morocco’s national rail operator ONCF has pursued a diversified financing strategy. In the latest move, the Office announced the successful close of a third green bond issuance of two billion dirhams, which attracted subscriptions nearly five times the amount offered. This brings the cumulative total of green bond financing raised by ONCF since 2022 to five billion dirhams, establishing the operator as a leading sustainable finance issuer in the Moroccan capital markets.
The rolling stock program has also been finalized. ONCF awarded contracts for 168 new-generation trains across three separate lots: 18 high-speed trains to a grouping led by Alstom, 40 inter-city trains to Spain’s CAF, and 110 regional and metropolitan trains to South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem. Each contract is accompanied by industrial compensation commitments, including the planned establishment of a local train manufacturing facility in Morocco, and long-term maintenance partnerships between ONCF and the selected suppliers.
ONCF’s 2025 annual results confirmed the momentum behind this investment cycle. The operator recorded revenues exceeding five billion dirhams for the first time in its history, and carried 55.6 million passengers over the course of the year — both figures reflecting rising demand and an expanding service offer. The railway’s trajectory as the backbone of Morocco’s sustainable mobility ambitions appears well-established, with international partners, green finance markets, and domestic demand all aligned behind the same long-term direction.
