Morocco announces $2.6 billion high-speed train link
Transport links across Morocco have been enhanced with the launch of a new cross-country high-speed rail service. Morocco’s state railway corporation has announced plans to invest millions of Euros in a new high speed rail network linking the northern city of Tangier to the country’s commercial capital, Casablanca.
According to Azzedine El Amraoui, Morocco’s state railway company (ONCF) Director Strategy & Development, the new line is essential to increase Morocco’s network capacity and counter congestion on existing routes. This is the first phase of a project aims to increase rail usage from its present level of 52 million passengers, to 133 million by 2030.
The introduction of a high speed line will reduce the Casablanca - Tangier journey time from 5 hours to 2 hours 10 min. The work is scheduled to start this year on the new rail link and it is expected to handle 8 million passengers per year. This represents a significant improvement to the national transport network and this will make these towns much more accessible and will open them up to international visitors.
The Moroccan housing market is set to be boosted by this new cross-country rail link and when it is complete Tangier property prices is expected to rise due to demand from property hunters looking for second homes in the north of the country. It can be confidently expected that the high speed line will increase the number of visitors passing through Tangiers ferry port, further augmenting the local economy.
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