ONCF Announces Construction of New Railway Station in Rabat

Rabat – Morocco’s National Railways Office (ONCF) announced today the launch of construction work on a new station at the Hay Riad region in the Moroccan capital city of Rabat.

The office also announced that work on the Rabat-Ville station will be resumed.

“As part of its ambitious program to modernize railway stations across the Kingdom, ONCF is undertaking two major projects in the capital, namely the construction of a new station in Hay Riad and the resumption of work on the Rabat-Ville station,” ONCF said on its website.

The railway office said that the projects are in line with the goals of expanding passenger transportation, as well as its dynamic transformation plans. The train stations are now positioned as multimodal interchange hubs and real centers of life, it added.

The new Hay Riad station is “ideally located” and will be built as a bridge station connecting Annakhil Avenue and Hassan II Avenue, while also serving the Moulay Abdellah sports complex.

ONCF vowed that the next-generation station will be operational by 2025, just in time for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) which will be held in Morocco. It will have parking and stores, among other facilities, and will be tailored to local needs.

Concerning the construction work on the new Rabat-Ville rail complex, ONCF stressed that the development of this major project was put on hold due to technical and other constraints, accentuated by the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nevertheless, ONCF emphasized that, given the building’s worldwide significance and its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the center of Rabat, this disruption presented an opportunity to begin the project’s heritage impact research.

In order to better preserve the architectural and visual integrity of the surrounding area of the twentieth-century art-deco legacy, the project’s architectural idea was also reviewed, primarily with regard to its glass roof.

ONCF said that the installation of these stations is part of its dedication to the advancement of more intelligent, high-value, sustainable mobility solutions.