Alstom has been awarded a contract with ONCF for the supply of 30 electric Prima locomotives. The contract — which is the result of an international tender launched by ONCF in March 2017 — is worth around €130 million ($159.44 million). While the 30 locomotives will be manufactured in Alstom's Belfort plant, the Alstom team in Morocco will ensure the after sales service and maintenance.
The 30 Prima M4 locomotives have a nominal power of 5.5 MW, a maximum operating speed of 160 km/h and operate under 3 KV DC voltage. They can be equipped with ETCS level 1. They require minimum maintenance and provide a high reliability level and low lifecycle cost thanks to the modular design.
“We are delighted that ONCF has renewed its confidence in our company and our products. Thanks to a consolidated and historical partnership based on mutual trust and a real teamwork spirit with our customer, 20 Prima locomotives have been successfully in service in Morocco since 2011 and today, with this new contract, our journey continues and we are proud to contribute to the development of the Moroccan railway infrastructure,” said Brahim Soua, managing director of Alstom in Morocco.
Alstom has been manufacturing locomotives for more than 100 years with the first electric locomotive produced in 1926. Today, Alstom has sold more than 3 000 locomotives from its Prima range over the last 20 years. Alstom offers for the Prima locomotives a complete service to support operation, including parts supply, heavy maintenance or full service offers.
Six French sites will participate in the production of the locomotives: Belfort (manufacturing), Le Creusot (bogies), Ornans (motors), Petit-Quevilly (transformers), Tarbes (traction chain components) and Villeurbanne (on board electronics).
Present in Morocco with 350 employees, Alstom has contributed to several structuring projects, such as the delivery of Citadis trams to the cities of Rabat and Casablanca, and 12 Avelia Euroduplex trains for the High Speed Line which will link Tangier to Casablanca. In its plant in Fez, Alstom produces cable bundles for rail applications and electrical switchboxes that are supplied to its European plants and mounted on trains exported around the world.