Opening the proceedings of the 20th International Railway Security Congress (UIC World Security Congress), which Rabat is hosting on Wednesday and Thursday, Abdel Samad Qayouh, Minister of Transport and Logistics, affirmed “Morocco’s commitment to railway security and safety, as it falls within a comprehensive vision for safety and protection of people, as well as securing property and infrastructure.”

This is evident, as Qayouh stated during his speech today, Wednesday, before officials of the International Union of Railways and the National Railway Office (ONCF), in “updating our monitoring and control systems, strengthening human capital through training and skills development,” as well as “creating specialized structures dedicated to security and field coordination,” placing these measures “within a clear and effective governance framework, in line with international standards, to ensure reliable, flexible, and accessible rail transport for all.”

“The national railway sector has made tremendous efforts to enhance field (operational) security,” the Minister of Transport and Logistics affirmed to the participants from 30 countries, who, according to Qayouh, will enrich “the discussions and reflections on the theme chosen for this session: ‘Railway security in the future: Reconciling human elements and technology.’”

Moroccan structured system

In detailing his review of the Moroccan experience in securing the railway sector, facilities and personnel, Abdel Samad Qayouh, Minister of Transport and Logistics, pointed out that the adopted system is based on: a structured railway police force present in stations, sensitive locations, and on trains, and a wide network of monitoring agents.

It also includes “a modern technological arsenal covering all main stations, in addition to a high-speed line,” considering that Morocco has “a security center that allows for rapid and centralized coordination to deal with incidents.”

These achievements testify to a “firm conviction that security is no longer an isolated function; rather, it is an integrated system that combines human expertise and smart technologies.”

The same government official continued: “With regard to our continent, and despite the different situations from one network to another, there is no doubt that railway security poses a major challenge to the whole of Africa; this requires the establishment of solid systems to anticipate the development of risks and to confront the multiple challenges that characterize this sector within our continent.”

For two days, Rabat is hosting the proceedings of the 20th World Railway Security Conference, held under the high patronage of King Mohammed VI, “which is the first of its kind to be held in an African country.”

Reliability and flexibility

According to Minister Qayouh, this is a “topic of utmost relevance that concerns us all, given the profound and multidimensional transformations, whether social, societal, economic, technical, technological or organizational. The pace of these transformations has accelerated due to recent developments in mobility flows, emerging threats and increasing security requirements; which sharply characterize our environment, and pushes actors, more than ever, to engage courageously and collectively in the process of modernization, and to reinvent our security systems to ensure more reliable, flexible and inclusive rail mobility.”

The Minister of Transport and Logistics shared “some indicators that highlight the vital role of the transport sector in stimulating the socio-economic activity of our country,” stating that “it contributes 10 percent to the gross domestic product, accounts for about 38 percent of national energy consumption, and employs nearly 10 percent of the active population.”

The railway sector is “part of a transformation driven by a distinct national will”: to redraw the features of a strong Morocco with its achievements and ambitions, within the framework of the new development model that charts the path towards progress and prosperity by 2035. It relates in detail, in particular, to “strengthening connectivity between different territorial areas through multiple modes, according to appropriate guiding plans, with the aim of reconsidering the movement of people and goods.”

The Minister in charge of the transport sector in the government of Aziz Akhannouch pointed out that “this vital sector has witnessed, during the last two decades, fundamental and deliberate reforms, accompanied by an accelerated pace of investments; this is within the framework of the policy of major projects launched by the royal vision, which has been implemented in various parts of the Kingdom, especially the development of the railway sector through an ambitious investment program with a financial envelope of 96 billion dirhams.”

In concluding his speech, Abdel Samad Qayouh affirmed that the conference would include “fruitful work and rich discussions, which I am certain will strengthen our collective commitment to safe, flexible, and sustainable rail transport,” as he put it.