Alstom signs rail deals with Morocco and Tunisia
French rail operator Alstom has announced a string of transport deals in North Africa, coinciding with French President Nicolas Sarkozy's visit to Morocco.The company has been recruited to build a high-speed rail link between Tangiers and Marrakech in a government-to-government deal worth about EUR 2,000 ($2,850 million).The 200-kilometre first stage of the line will link Tangiers and Kanitra, and is expected to be operational by 2013. Alstom will provide 18 double-decker trains as part of the arrangement.'At the moment, it is still a government-to-government deal,' says Emilio Gallochio, senior vice-president for southern Europe at Alstom. 'The next stage is to finalise a commercial contract.''We estimate this will take about nine months.'Alstom has also won a contract to supply Moroccan National Railways with 20 electric locomotives, in a deal worth Eur 74 million ($105 million). The trains are to be delivered by 2010 for freight and passenger use on the rail network. The deal was signed on 23 October.In Tunisia, the group is pushing through delivery of 25 trams for the Tunis urban transit network. Alstom won the Eur 70 million ($100 million) contract in 2004 but only recently started deliveries, with six trams in operation. The remaining vehicles will be delivered at a rate of one a month.Alstom is also bidding for the tram networks in Rabat and Dubai.
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