France’s Alstom has won two contracts for work on the first phase of the Casablanca tramway in Morocco.

One contract covers the design, build and installation of railway signalling. The second contract involves providing 23 electrical substations and substation buildings, which will supply power to the catenary systems.

The contracts are worth about €11m ($15m) and the work is scheduled to finish in October 2012. The tram itself is due to start operating in December 2012.

In December 2009, Alstom was awarded a $283m contract to provide 74 trams to Morocco’s Casa Transports to use on the tramway. Casa Transports is state-run and is overseeing the development of the tramway (MEED 18:12:09).

Alstom will also maintain the trams for 15 years under the deal. It plans to deliver the first trams to Casa Transports by the end of 2011.

Line 1 will comprise 50 stations on a 29-kilometre line crossing the city from east to west. Casa Transports plans to build three more lines, with the entire tram network set to run a total length of 76km.The tram is part of Casa Transports’ $5.9bn overhaul of the city’s urban infrastructure. The wider plan also includes the development of bus services and a highway.