The Kingdom of Morocco became the first country in Africa and in the Arab world to launch the construction works of a high-speed rail line. The event took place in Tangier on September 29, 2011.

Come 2015 Africa and the Arab world will have its very first high-speed train (HST) when Morocco rolls out the first phase – from Casablanca to Tangier via Rabat line. This new line will more than halve the current traveling time for the 348 km journey, reducing the trip from five hours to a little over two hours. Each train will be able to carry up to 533 passengers. While South Africa has the Gautrain, Africa's first rapid rail link between Johannesburg's airport and downtown, Morocco's initiative is the first long range high-speed rail link.

The time saving line links Morocco's two most important economic centers of Casablanca, the industrial lung of the kingdom and Tangier the major economic axis of the north with its new Renault plant, the largest production unit of the car manufacturer in southern Mediterranean.

The first phase of this major project will require funding estimated at nearly $2.8 billion. The construction of the HST is an enormous challenge for Morocco, and since it was first announced in 2007, there were those who doubted its feasibility. Funding for this megastructure has come from a variety of sources, including France, the Gulf countries and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development. This was reflected by the presence of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prince Megrin ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia alongside His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco, at the launch of construction work on the HST line.

Boosting traffic

Morocco plans to eventually have a high-speed rail network stretching almost 800 km, connecting the cities of Marrakech, Settat, Casablanca, Rabat and Fez. The Moroccan state railway (ONCF) believes by 2030 its interurban HST traffic could reach 133 million passengers.

"Tangier [will be] connected to Casablanca in 2 hours 10 minutes [by rail], so you can imagine the impact this will bring in socio-economic terms," said Mohammed Rabie Khlie, Director General of the ONCF.

ONCF has ordered a fleet of 14 double deck Alstom Duplex trains equipped to operate at up to 320 km/hour on the high-speed line. Jean-Pierre Loubinoux, Director General of International Union of Railways (UIC), said at the launch that the project was very important as the connection will not only be the first high-speed line on the African continent, but also constitute the first link in a network developing southward.

"High-speed rail in conjunction with a well-developed conventional network will provide Morocco with an economic, business and social boost," said Loubin

Tech transfer

The main design and development work of the HST will be undertaken at Alstom's La Rochelle plant in western France. However the motor and trains will be assembled near Tangier, as part of an extensive technology and skills transfer between France and Morocco.

Ultimately Morocco's HST hopes to connect Casablanca to Madrid, taking an estimated 5 hours 20 minutes to complete the trip.

To achieve this studies are being carried out by a Swiss consulting firm on a tunnel connecting the African continent and Europe at the Strait of Gibraltar. Being14.4 km wide at its narrowest, the cost of the Gibraltar Tunnel is currently estimated at about 18 billion euros according to the National Railways of Morocco  (ONFC), who estimates 60 percent of passengers and 75 percent of goods passing through the tunnel will come from Europe. The project will place Morocco and Spain in the center of trade between Europe and Africa, and the impact will be enormous on all fronts: investment, job creation and wealth creation. However, many obstacles remain and a final decision on the implementation of the project is yet to be made.

Some predict that the tunnel project between Morocco and Spain would be completed by 2025. Karim Ghellab, Morocco Minister of Equipment and Transport, said, "We have already done a great job to make this dream a reality. It is not easy to predict a date, but it's a project that will happen." Ghellab said that in the future passengers will leave Seville (southern Spain) at 8 a.m. and arrive in Tangier at 9:30 a.m. " he said.

Officials in Morocco and Spain say that the two governments are committed to this project but acknowledge that the obstacles of financial and engineering would be difficult to overcome.  Meanwhile analysts estimate the tunnel costs could reach between $6.5-13 billion. Apparently the two countries rely on the EU and the private sector to fund this project.

(Reporting from Morocco)