Morocco launches first Africa’s high-speed train

MoroccoFrench-made twin-decker TGVs. /Courtesy

French President Emmanuel Macron and Morocco’s King Mohammed VI have launched Africa’s first high-speed Electric train line in Morocco.

These high-speed electricity powered trains are flashing along the Atlantic coast of Morocco.

French-made Twin-Decker TGVs had been undergoing tests before a much anticipated flagship of the new line connecting Tangier with Morocco’s economic capital Casablanca.

The TGVs are engineered and manufactured by Alstom. They have a maximum speed of 200 kilometers per hour. They will cut the journey time between the two cities by more than half.

This is double the speed of South Africa’s Gautrain, launched in 2012, which falls short of the criteria for high-speed rail.

The $2 billion project has been under construction for a decade now. The huge budget involved in the project was shared between governments of Morocco, France, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

King Mohammed VI and the Moroccan government expect the trains to deliver wealth and prestige for the country. But opposition in Morocco claims that this is an expensive folly.

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