How crowded do Moroccan trains get?

Crowding on Moroccan trains is real but entirely predictable, which means it's manageable once you know the pattern. The whole picture hinges on second class being unreserved on the conventional network: you sit where you can find space, so on a quiet train it's spacious and easy, but on a busy one it fills up and the latecomers stand in the corridors with their bags. So 'how crowded' isn't a fixed answer — it's a function of which day and which class you're travelling.

Midweek and off-peak, the trains are genuinely relaxed. A Tuesday-morning inter-city run or a quiet midday Rabat–Casablanca hop, and you'll stroll on, pick a seat, and have room to spread out even in second class. Those are the journeys where I happily tell budget travellers not to bother upgrading — second class is comfortable and uncrowded, and you'd be paying for a problem that isn't there.

Then there are the crush days, and they're worth marking in your planning. Friday afternoons and Sunday evenings, when people travel for the weekend; the run-up to and return from public holidays and especially Eid; and the height of summer when everyone's on the move — these get packed. On those, second class can mean a corridor and a long stand, which is miserable with luggage or children. I've seen perfectly nice trains become standing-room-only on a holiday Friday, and it catches the unprepared off guard.

The fix is delightfully simple, and it's the heart of my advice: on any busy travel day, book first class, which gives you a reserved, numbered seat that's yours no matter how full the train gets, or take Al Boraq, where both classes are fully reserved so crowding simply isn't a factor. The fare difference is modest and the peace of mind is total. Save unreserved second class for the quiet midweek hops, reserve a seat for the peak days, and the crowding question stops being a worry at all.