Morocco launched the start of the completion of the high -speed railway linking the cities of Quneitra and Marrakech, which is 430 km long, at a speed of 350 km per hour, as part of a program to enhance the railway structure with a budget of approximately $ 10 billion.
Morocco will extend this project, which Moroccan King Mohamed VI supervised his inauguration from the Rabat Agdal station, the high -speed train that is currently linking between Tangier and Quneitra to reach Marrakech, which will make the Kingdom among the countries that possess the longest high -speed networks in the world with a total of 630 km, according to the statements of the Director General of the National Railways Office, Mohamed Rabie Al -Khulaie.
Connect the urban centers, airports and the World Cup stadiums
The project includes building the infrastructure of the high -speed railway and the acquisition of 168 new trains, in the framework of a total investment of approximately 96 billion dirhams (about 10 billion dollars), distributed between 53 billion dirhams to create the new line (5.3 billion dollars), and 29 billion dirhams (about 3 billion dollars) to update and renovate the railway fleet, and 14 billion dirhams to develop urban transportation networks in the cities of Casablanca and Rabat Marrakech.
The project includes the establishment of a new railway linking the cities of Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakech, with a direct link to Rabat and Mohamed Varies in Casablanca, in addition to a link to the “Bin Sulaiman” stadium, one of the stadiums that will host the World Cup matches 2030.
A large reduction in the time of trips
With this new project, the time period between Tangier and Rabat will become one hour, an hour and 40 minutes between Tangier and Casablanca, and two hours and 40 minutes between Tangier and Marrakech, which means reducing the nominal time by about two hours. The project will also enable the link to Rabat to Mohamed V International Airport in Casablanca in just 35 minutes.
The project will provide a service to link Fez and Marrakech with a time of approximately 3 hours and 40 minutes, using high -speed trains on the traditional lines to northern Quneitra, then continue the trip via the new line.
Industrial system, international partnerships and promising investments
The program also includes the launch of a local industrial system for the manufacture of trains and its maintenance in partnership with international companies, including the French “Alstom”, “CAF”, and the Spanish “Hyundai Rotim”, with a local integration rate exceeding 40%, which will contribute to creating thousands of direct and indirect jobs.
According to the Minister of Transport and Logistics, Abdul Samad Qayyouh, the project represents a “new brick and an essential pillar of the national economy”, and it will enable to facilitate the movement of citizens and enhance the bonding between cities and airports, which will reflect positively on sustainable development and regional integration of Morocco in the long term.
