The Moroccan railway company has been running its TGVs on wind energy since January 1.
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Since January 1, 2022, the Al Boraq high-speed train has switched to green energy, the National Board of Railways (ONCF) said in a statement. “The bet of the ONCF is now to supply, in the long term, all of its trains entirely with clean energy, advances the ONCF, noting that the Al Boraq trains will be the first to offer eco-responsible trips to the ‘100% wind power’, reports the MAP agency which quotes the press release. The railway company is greening the electricity supply cycle of the rail network by substituting its electricity consumption with clean energy. ONCF is progressively implementing its green transformation, shifting 25% of its overall energy consumption to green energy, reaching 50% in 2023 before bringing it to all in the medium term.
The Tangier-Casablanca high-speed line (LGV), presented as “the fastest in Africa” was inaugurated in November 2018 by French President Emmanuel Macron and King Mohammed VI. The Moroccan company ONCF was counting on six million passengers after three years of operation. The cost of the LGV, 50% financed by France through various loans, amounts to around 23 billion dirhams (around 2.19 billion euros), almost 15% more than initial estimates, but well below average European costs.
Deemed expensive and unnecessary when it debuted in 2018, the high-speed Al Boraq train, named in reference to a fantastic winged frame of the Islamic tradition, is now unanimous. Its success cannot be denied. In 2019, nearly three million travelers chose this means of transport in Morocco. A momentum broken by the Covid-19.