Moroccan Railways (ONCF) allocates 2.16 billion dirhams (EUR200 million) for the modernization of the High Speed Train stations.
At the same time, ONCF announced that Tangier – Casablanca high speed rail line is 75 percent completed.
This announcement was made by Mohamed Khlie, Director General of Moroccan Railways, in Marrakech at the closing of the “Next Station 2015”, international conference on railway stations.
“We will invest EUR 50 million (541 million dirhams) in each station (Tanger, Casa Voyageurs, Rabat Agdal and Kenitra) which will serve the high speed line. Work will start by the end of the year”, he revealed.
Originally planned for end of 2015, the project whose operation is the subject of a partnership between ONCF and French SNCF will be delivered in the first half of 2018 ” due to the difficulties in the procedures for land acquisition and the difficulties related to the poor quality of the soil and the seismic stress” an official of the company said.
The 350km long line will link Morocco’s largest city, Casablanca, with Tangier. It will be the first high-speed rail line in Africa when completed in 2018. The new line will cut the journey time between Casablanca and Tangier from nearly five hours and 45 minutes to just more than two hours.
Photo: ONCF, AFP
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