Moroccan train at station
The Wonderful Modern Trains in Morocco
My good friend & fellow world traveler, Melanie, clued me into the Moroccan trains. Prior to that, I had loosely assumed that overland travel in Morocco must be done primarily by bus.
However, I much prefer train travel to bus travel when it’s available. So I was quite happy to hear about Moroccan trains.
Since I was planning to visit several destinations around Morocco, I quickly researched the trains. I discovered that ONCF is the Moroccan train company. It operates several regular train routes from Marrakech, at the southern end, on up to Tangers, on the far north coast, and various points inland & eastward from Tangers.
The first trip I had to take was from Marrakech to Casablanca, so I checked out the train schedules on ONCF site. Their website is really easy to use – just like searching for flights on airline websites, where you put in your start point, destination, date and preferred time of travel, then hit ‘search’. It quickly comes back with the list of train times for the day.
Meknes Station sign
Visitors can buy tickets online with a major credit card or Moroccan bank card, but ONCF site apparently doesn’t take international debit cards. I tried to buy a ticket online, but it wouldn’t accept my US debit card. That meant I had to buy my ticket at the station.
I decided to buy my ticket a few days in advance so I wouldn’t have to arrive one hour early on the day of travel to secure a seat. Buying a ticket at the station proved to be quite simple, even though I don’t speak either Arabic or French.
The ticket sellers speak a bit of English and if need be, it’s easy enough to use a phone calendar to point out dates, a watch to indicate time, and simply state the destination. Easy-peasy.
Soon I had my first Moroccan train ticket in hand and was set for my first overland journey, in just a few days time.
Prior to that first trip, I was naturally wondering what Moroccan trains are like. Would they be well-organized? Timely? Would they be clean or messy? Modern and new or falling apart?
Would they be blasting music, TV shows, movies? Or would they be relatively quiet? Would they be freezing like refrigerators (like Malaysian trains) or broiling hot or a comfortable temperature?
Gare de Marrakech
I already knew the beautiful Marrakech train station was a sparkling new, grand modern building with a stunning modern Moroccan design. So that was a good start.
I’d also seen that the station interior is super clean and has all the necessary services – clean free toilets, a couple of basic restaurants, a convenience store and a waiting area full of seats.
I later learned that all Moroccan train stations are clean, modern facilities, many with stunning architecture, all with good passenger services.
But it’s when I arrived for my first train journey and walked out onto the platform that I began to discover how very modern & well-organized the Moroccan train system is.
Attendants stand at the doors to the platforms, checking tickets and only allowing ticket-ed passengers to proceed. The platforms are super clean and have many benches for waiting customers.
Much to my surprise, the trains are super modern and look brand-spanking new. Even more surprisingly, at each car door an attendant is waiting to check passengers’ tickets and direct them to the correct car and seat number.
Inside, each car has plenty of luggage storage areas via over-head racks and, in some types of cars, tiered luggage racks at the back near the doors. They also have a relatively clean toilet, complete with paper.
Best of all, the trains are super comfortable in all regards. Seats are extremely comfortable. The temperature is mild, neither hot nor cold.
interior Moroccan train
They are blissfully quiet. No music. No TVs. No movies blasting. Just wonderful silence, aside from any noisy passengers and the regular clacking of trains on tracks. However, these Moroccan trains are incredibly smooth and silent on their tracks. Nothing like older trains that shift and groan, clank and rattle, chug and shiver. Moroccan trains just hum along.
I was also pleased to note that the trains run pretty much on time. Trains depart exactly on time from their station of origin. Then they may end up running a few minutes behind at stations several hours into the trip. But they’re only late by 5-10 minutes, if at all.
And as if all that’s not good enough, Moroccan trains are also incredibly inexpensive! Here are some sample fares:
Marrakech – Casablanca – 4-hour trip = 110 MAD / $12 US
Casablanca – Fes – 3.5-hour trip = 115 MAD / $12.50 US
Fes – Rabat – 2.5-hour trip = 85 MAD / $9 US
The trains are a really fantastic way to travel around Morocco. They make a very comfortable, inexpensive way to see the Moroccan countryside, which actually varies greatly between destinations.
On my journeys I’ve seen flat dry expanses, green rolling hills, eucalyptus forests, rivers, rocky regions, poor dusty villages, modern towns and cities, oil processing facilities and the Atlantic Ocean.
Thus far I’ve taken three train journeys and I will take several more before I leave Morocco. I look forward to all of them.
I’ve traveled 2nd class each time. I’ve been seated in two very different types of seat arrangements. One is a standard configuration with double seats on either side of a central aisle.
The other type of 2nd class cars consist of individual rooms containing eight seats, four facing forwards and four facing backwards. The window seats have a table between them, which is very convenient for eating, using electronics and so on.
Gare de Fes
The whole Moroccan train experience really put me in mind of the great Japanese train system, truth be told! Both countries provide trains that are clean, modern, punctual, quiet and well-organized. They all offer small tables between some seats and large windows for watching scenery go by.
In fact, the entire Moroccan train experience is fantastic. From the beautiful modern train stations with good facilities to the ease of buying tickets, the well-organized and secure boarding & departing of trains to the comfortable journey itself, riding Moroccan trains is simply wonderful.
You might also like:
11 Surprising Things about Morocco
20 Things I Love about Marrakech
My First Impressions of Morocco
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Hi! I'm Lash, an American nomadic world traveler who's been traveling solo since 1998. I’m passionate about traveling the world nomadically and then sharing it all with you. I hope to inspire you to travel the world, to entertain you with tales from the road, and to help you reach your travel dreams. Welcome! 
