Fes railway station
The Fes Railway Station is the main station in the Moroccan city of Fes. While there are secondary stations for local connections, this station serves long-distance mainline trains.
Rail network
Fes lies on the east–west mainline in northern Morocco and offers direct connections to Oujda and Nador in the east, Tangier in the north, and via transfer at Meknes, the main northwest line to Rabat, Casablanca, and Marrakech.
Electrification
A part of the Moroccan mainline network is electrified. On the west-to-east mainline, Fes is the endpoint of the electrified tracks. Trains to and from Taourirt, Oujda, and Nador are powered by diesel locomotives, while trains from the west terminating in Fes or heading to Tangier use electric locomotives.
Connections
There are four trains per day from Nador to Fes, with the same frequency from Oujda. One of the daily trains to and from Oujda is a hotel train offering only couchette places, with couchette tickets available on all night trains.[1] Travel time from Fes to Nador is approximately 6 hours, and to Oujda, about 5.5 hours.[2][3]
The Fes-Meknes-Rabat route, continuing to Casablanca, is by far the busiest long-distance line, with 18 daily trains, 8 of which continue from Casablanca to Marrakech. The journey to Marrakech railway station takes approximately 8.5 hours.[2]
Modernising
The Office National des Chemins de Fer (ONCF), the state company operating the railways, invests significant resources into modernising the network. The stations in Marrakech and Fes have been rebuilt in recent years, and the Taourirt-Nador branch line was constructed between 2006 and 2009.[4] A bypass is also being constructed around the city of Meknes to allow some trains to bypass the city.
Additionally, a high-speed line is being built between Tangier and Casablanca, as part of the Kenitra–Tangier high-speed rail line, though this service will not stop at Fes.[5]
References
- ^ ONCF website:Trains du Nuit Archived 2011-08-26 at the Wayback Machine (French), visited 19 July 2011
- ^ a b On-line timetable Archived 2011-08-26 at the Wayback Machine on ONCF website, visited 19 July 2011
- ^ ONCF website Trains Grand Lignes - Nador-Casablanca Archived 2010-12-01 at the Wayback Machine, visited 21 July 2011
- ^ Maghreb news & press reviews: King inaugurates new rail line Archived 2012-06-06 at the Wayback Machine, Visited 21 July 2011
- ^ Hagharebia website:Engineers start working on the TGV Marrakesh-Tanger, 15 May 2009, visited 20 July 2011