The Kenitra-Tangier high-speed rail line is a high-speed rail

High-speed rail

High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include for upgraded track and or faster for new track, whilst in the United States, the U.S...

 line under construction in Morocco

Morocco

Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...

. It is the first part of a planned line from Tangier to Casablanca. It was announced in November 2007 by the national government. Initially the project was announced as being between Tangier

Tangier

Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...

 and Kenitra

Kenitra

Kenitra is a city in Morocco, formerly known as Port Lyautey. It is a port on the Sebou River, has a population in 2004 of 359,142 and is the capital of the Gharb-Chrarda-Béni Hssen region. During the Cold War Kenitra's U.S...

, but this has now been extended to Casablanca. In early 2009, a cooperation contract between Morocco's rail company ONCF

ONCF

ONCF or ONCFM is Morocco's national railway operator. The Office employs around 9,767 employees and has a network of 1,907 km, all standard gauge...

 and French rail company SNCF

SNCF

The SNCF , is France's national state-owned railway company. SNCF operates the country's national rail services, including the TGV, France's high-speed rail network...

 was signed to cooperate on the project.

Project details

Sources of finance (20 billion dirhams total):

• The government: 4.8bn dirhams
• French and European sources: 1.9bn dirhams,
• Loans: 12.3bn dirhams.

Expenditure:

• Infrastructure: 10bn dirhams
• Railway equipment: 5.6bn dirhams
• Rolling stock: 4.4bn dirhams

Construction

In February 2010 ONCF signed agreements financing the construction of the 20bn dirham high-speed line between Tangier and Casablanca. Work was expected to start at the end of 2011, with services beginning in December 2015. The foundation stone of the project was laid on 29 September 2011, with the first phase to be operational in 2015.

The line is to be constructed in two sections—a new route from Tangier to Kénitra and an upgrade of the existing route from Kénitra to Casablanca. There will be a top speed of 320 kph on the new line and 220 kph on the upgraded line. Upon completion, the travel time between Casablanca and Tangier will be reduced from five hours and 45 minutes to two hours and ten minutes. A potential second phase would see a new track built between Kénitra and Casablanca.

Trains

On 10 December 2010 ONCF signed a contract worth nearly €400M with Alstom

Alstom

Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...

 for 14 TGV Duplex

SNCF TGV Duplex

The TGV Duplex is a French high-speed train of the TGV family, operated by SNCF, the French national railway company. It is unique among TGV trains in that it features bi-level carriages. The Duplex inaugurated the third generation of TGV trainsets, and was specially designed to increase capacity...

 trains each capable of carrying 533 passengers.

Criticism

The project has attracted criticism for being a misguided use of money when there are more serious problems than transport facing Morocco. The country's former finance minister, Mohamed Berrada, said that a better use of the money spent on the rail line would be to address poverty and illiteracy.