On the 25th (local time), Hyundai Rotem announced on the 26th that it received a contract from the Moroccan National Railway Office for the supply of double-decker electric trains worth 2.2 trillion won. The maintenance of the vehicles will be jointly performed by Hyundai Rotem and Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) after separate negotiations with the Moroccan National Railway Office.
With this project, Hyundai Rotem, which has entered the Moroccan market for the first time, achieved a record for the largest order in a single railway project. Existing large-scale contracts include the delivery of double-decker electric trains for Australia's NIF (approximately 1.4 trillion won), the electric train supply project for Queensland, Australia, which was contracted last year (approximately 1.3 trillion won), and the electric trains for LA Metro that will be used for passenger transport during the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Olympics (approximately 900 billion won).
The Moroccan double-decker electric trains will operate at speeds of up to 160 km/h, connecting major areas centered around Casablanca, the largest city in Morocco. Morocco, along with Spain and Portugal, will jointly host the 2030 FIFA World Cup, for which it is expanding transportation infrastructure such as high-speed rail and electric trains at a cost of 16 billion dirhams (approximately 6.23 trillion won).
Renowned railway corporations such as France's Alstom, China's CRRC, and Spain's CAF also participated in this electric train procurement project. Alstom and CRRC dropped out mid-way, and Hyundai Rotem secured the contract after final competition with CAF.
The success of Hyundai Rotem's entry into the Moroccan market is noted to be significantly due to the efforts of the public-private joint "Korea One Team," including Hyundai Rotem. Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Sangwoo Park and Second Vice Minister Won-guk Baek directly visited the local area last year and met with the Moroccan Minister of Transport and Logistics and the head of the railway office. Officials from the National Railway Corporation and KORAIL also visited Morocco to promote the competitiveness of Korean railways.
In particular, KORAIL received positive evaluations for proposing comprehensive cooperation, including technology transfer and training, in response to the Moroccan National Railway Office's demand for securing core maintenance technologies. KORAIL has accumulated unique maintenance capabilities and expertise by operating various railway vehicles such as high-speed trains, electric trains, and freight cars.
A representative from Hyundai Rotem said, "This contract is an achievement of the Korea One Team, which united the public and private sectors, and it demonstrates the recognition of the competitiveness of Korean railways in the global market" and added, "We will do our best to provide high-quality electric trains that local citizens and visitors attending the 100th anniversary of the World Cup in 2030 can use safely and conveniently."