On 25 August, ONCF CEO Mohamed Rabie Khlie inaugurated the rail bridge built to replace level crossing 4022 in Bouskoura, a town located around 20 km south of Casablanca. The project required an investment of 33 million Moroccan dirhams, financed through a partnership between ONCF, the district of Bouskoura and the Greater Casablanca regional authority. The ceremony was also an opportunity to begin construction work on a road bridge to replace level crossing 4021 in Bouskoura, as well as two new grade-separation projects to replace two other manned level crossings, set to start operation during the first quarter of 2012.

The execution of these projects falls within the scope of ONCF’s programme aiming to remove level crossings on the Casablanca-Fes-Oujda corridor by replacing them with new constructions which increase the safety of local residents and traffic and improve the flow of urban and suburban journeys. The aim of this programme is to reduce the number of level crossings by 50% across the national network and by 100% in densely-populated cities such as Casablanca.

Since 2005, almost 42% of the overall programme has been achieved, corresponding to the removal of 107 level crossings – that is an average of 16 level crossings a year – and their replacement with 67 engineering structures: pedestrian footbridges, rail bridges and road bridges.