Morocco Plans $10 Billion High-Speed Rail Expansion to Connect Major Cities

Connecting Marrakech to Agadir with the aim of bringing the southern provinces closer together and extending the current high-speed line from Tangier-Kenitra-Casablanca to Marrakech. These are the two rail projects for which Morocco is seeking financing. Moroccan authorities have made these rail projects a priority, the Minister of Transport and Logistics said on January 18, 2022 before Parliament. The overall financing of these projects is estimated at nearly 100 billion dirhams, or about 10 billion euros, said Mohamed Abdeljalil. A colossal sum possibly requiring "a public-private partnership," he stressed.

France, which had financed the train connecting Tangier to Casablanca inaugurated in November 2018, could support these new rail projects. China could also finance the construction of this gigantic project in the form of aid or a loan. Moreover, it has said it is ready to contribute to the project. The high-speed Marrakech-Agadir line is of interest to the Chinese state-owned group Zhong Neng Xuan Zong Industrial. In return, Morocco will have to choose Chinese rolling stock.

The kingdom is thinking big. By 2040, ONCF plans to build 1,300 kilometers of new high-speed lines and 3,800 kilometers of conventional lines, which will connect 43 cities in the Kingdom, said Moroccan Minister of Transport and Logistics Mohamed Abdeljalil.