Morocco Advances Agadir-Marrakech High-Speed Rail Project with Key Engineering Studies

The LPEE engineering firm is now responsible for carrying out the geological, hydrogeological and geotechnical reconnaissance work necessary for the preliminary design studies (APS) of the Agadir-Marrakech rail link, after winning this contract whose budget amounts to 135.9 million dirhams, reports the daily Les Inspirations Éco, specifying that this award is part of three other contracts, recently launched by the ONCF. It follows a rectification notice resulting in the postponement of this service to July 26, 2023. The commission had completed its work last week. From September 20, 2023, the ONCF also intends to award the contract for external control services, the cost estimate of which amounts to 64 million dirhams.

To recall, the APS studies for the Agadir-Marrakech HSL were entrusted to the Chinese railway design company China Railway Design Corporation, a subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned company China State Railway Group, which proposed a cheaper offer of more than half compared to the CID-Novec-SETEC group, i.e. 44 million dirhams, against 96 million dirhams. The Chinese company will carry out the APS studies related to infrastructure, civil engineering and railway equipment, and railway operations as well as its operating system.

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On the occasion of the 44th anniversary of the Green March, King Mohammed VI made the realization of the Marrakech-Agadir HSL a priority. With a total cost of 100 billion dirhams, this 230 km long line includes the main line, its connections to the existing network, the connection to the Remote Control Post (PCD) and the facilities for connections to existing stations. The performance and safety level of this line must be globally at least equivalent to those offered by the Tangier-Kenitra HSL, put into service in 2018. Preliminary studies for the realization of this mega-project, including the topographic study, have already been launched with the securing of the route.