Morocco wants to stay the course of high-speed rail. The government is seeking funding to launch two new high-speed lines (LGV). The first must connect Marrakech to Agadir with the aim of bringing the southern provinces closer together. The second project aims to extend the current LGV Tangier-Kenitra-Casablanca to Marrakech.
The Moroccan authorities have made these rail projects a priority, said the Minister of Transport and Logistics on January 18, 2022 before Parliament. Mohamed Abdeljalil specified that this required an overall investment of nearly 100 billion dirhams, or approximately 10 billion euros. A colossal sum possibly requiring “a public and private partnership”, he pointed out.
For the construction of this gigantic project, France could put its hand in its pocket as it had already done for the train linking Tangier to Casablanca inaugurated in November 2018. In the absence of aid or a large loan, the Morocco could turn to China which, on several occasions, has said it is ready to contribute to the project. In return, the Kingdom should choose Chinese rolling stock. The Chinese public group Zhong Neng Xuan Zong Industrial has already expressed interest in the Marrakech-Agadir high-speed line project.
The technical studies have been carried out and around twenty hectares have already been bought by the National Railways Office (ONCF) to build the future Agadir station. This Marrakech-Agadir railway line will be over 230 kilometers long and is part of “the prospect of a later extension to the rest of the southern provinces”, King Mohammed VI declared on November 6, 2019, on the occasion of the 44th anniversary of the Green March. A clear political will to project better towards the Moroccan South. This LGV should contribute to the opening up of the Saharan regions and to their economic and tourist development.
The Moroccan authorities are also working on a project to extend to Marrakech, the high-speed line linking Tangier to Casablanca in 2h10. This line, known as the Atlantic line, currently being modernized between the cities of Kenitra and Rabat, will eventually join the Marrakech-Agadir line.
Long contested for its cost, the high-speed train has become for Morocco a land-use planning tool and the symbol of “Moroccan modernity”.
By 2040, ONCF plans to build 1 300 kilometers of new high-speed lines and 3 800 kilometers conventional lines, which will connect 43 cities in the Kingdom, said Moroccan Minister of Transport and Logistics Mohamed Abdeljalil.