The first car-carrying train between Morocco’s Renault factory in Melloussa – recently opened by the authorities – and the port of Tangier-Med departed yesterday, 6 March 2012. In opening this line – the result of a strategic partnership between Moroccan railways, ONCF and the port of Tangier-Med – the aim is to make rail an essential part of the supply chain for both imports and exports passing through this hub port.

ONCF has established rail terminals at the Renault factory and at the port of Tangier-Med, which can handle 400,000 vehicles a year by offering safe and environmentally-friendly conditions. Traffic levels are expected to reach a capacity of three trains a day from the fourth quarter of this year – that is 720 vehicles carried – with a view to raising the figure to six trains a day by 2014.

(Source: MAP)