Morocco to Launch High Speed Train that will carry 8 million passengers per year

NEWS

02/02/10

^{_{Washington, 02/02/10}} - The Tangier-Casablanca, Morocco, high speed train will carry 8 million passengers per year, CEO of Moroccan National Railways Mohammed Rabie Khlie said.
With a capacity of 500 passengers, the new HST will be accessible to the average citizen with a departure in every hour and every half hour during periods of heavy traffic, Mr. Khlie said on Monday.
the works in the High Speed Train project will start in June 2010 and the infrastructure works and railway equipment will end in 2014, and the HST will be operational in December 2015.

The High-Speed Train project is part of the government plan to promote economic and social development through upgrading major infrastructure networks.

The project is funded by the State (4.8 billion dirhams), the Hassan II Fund for Economic and Social Development (1 billion dirhams), French and European donations (1.9 billion dirhams) and loans with favourable terms and conditions (12.3 billion dirhams).

No indication on which foreign firms would  deliver the trains and other equipment needed to build and service the planned line.

But industry observers believed that French railway operator SNCF, heavy engineering group Alstom SA and Bombardier Inc were among top foreign companies contenders for the project.

The Tangier-Casablanca high-speed rail link marks the first stage of the ONCF’s high-speed rail master plan, pursuant to which over 1,500 kilometres of new railway lines will be built by 2035.

Various Sources

( Morocco Board News Service )