Page 50 - 360.revista de Alta Velocidad - Nº 6

Delaplace, Marie.

Inherited from the colonial era, the rail network has been modernized since the 1980s and
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new sections have been built. The investment budget devoted to rail transport more than
doubled between 2008–2011 and 2012–2015, from MAD 13.2 billion to MAD 30.8 billion. Morocco
has begun major renovations of several stations (Hakimi, 2017).
Following network modernization, passenger rail traffic growth – and thus growth of mobility
– was very strong, increasing from 14.7 million passengers in 2002 to 18.5 million in 2004, 31
million in 2010, 34 million in 2011 and 40 million in 2015. It is in this context of traffic growth
in western and northern Morocco that the first section of the high‐speed rail line along the
Atlantic axis was built. It is 200 km long and connects Tangier to Kenitra (Map 1) without any
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intermediate stations . It is the first high‐speed line in Africa. Trains will start operating in
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June 2018. Beyond Kenitra, the trains will continue on conventional lines at 160 km/h, or on
some sections 220 km/h, in order to reach Rabat (the political capital of Morocco) and then
Casablanca (the country’s economic centre). Subsequently, the line is due to be extended to
Settat, Benguerir, and then Marrakesh (480 km), and in the longer term from Marrakesh to
Essaouira and Agadir.
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These lines are supposed to enable increased mobility. The Moroccan National Railways Office
(ONCF) estimates that the total number of passengers on its routes in 2035 will be 133 million
compared with 52 million without the high‐speed line. High‐speed rail will thus contribute to
the development of rail traffic and consequently to exchanges between the cities served. The
ONCF has announced that the number of travellers is set to double (from 3 million to 6 million
per year) on the Tangier–Casablanca route. Of these, 4 million (66%) would come from the
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usual demand for rail (including induced traffic estimated at 12%), while the other 2 million
would be new customers (34%) switching from road‐based transport. This corresponds to a
modal shift from road to rail (all modes of individual or public transport) as well as to air travel
(2%) (ONCF, 2015). This growth in passenger numbers resulting from such modal shifts – as well
as partly from growth in overall mobility – is very strong; however, it will also be accompanied
by significant inequalities in access.

4.2 A significant improvement in accessibility associated with inequalities
in access

Given the relatively outdated state of existing rail transport, the Tangier–Kenitra high‐speed
line will allow for a considerable reduction in journey times, although these reductions will
vary according to the city, since some will be served in part by high‐speed trains running on
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conventional tracks. The Moroccan TGV is an adaptation of the French TGV . They have been
adapted to conditions in Morocco, particularly in terms of outdoor temperatures and the effects
of sand. The 12 duplex trains that have been purchased can circulate at an operating speed of
320 km/h (the equivalent of the East European HSL). Journey times will be cut by 76% between
Tangier and Kenitra (entirely on HSLs), a reduction much higher than that made possible by
the commissioning of HSLs in countries such as France . They will decrease by 57% between
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13 Between 2005 and 2009, the Casablanca–Fez, Casablanca–Kenitra, Casablanca–El Jadida and Fez–Sidi‐Kacem lines, which were
previously single‐track, have been split. New tracks linking Tangier to the Tanger Med passenger and cargo port and Taourirt to
Nador have been built (AT, 2011).
14 Intermediate city located at 50 km north of the capital.
15 The station planned for Larache, 90 km to the south of Tanger, has been temporarily abandoned. Land reserves have neverthe‐
less been preserved for a possible station.
16 This project seems to have been modified in 2017. The new project doesn’t serve Essaouira and instead provides
a direct link from Marrakesh to Agadir. See: https://www.tgvmaroc.ma/projet/.
17 See: https://www.tgvmaroc.ma/projet/retombees/.
18 The trains are built by Alstom, the company which builds the French TGV (source: Alstom Transport (AT), June 2011).
19 For comparison, the East European high‐speed line cut journey times by 44% from Paris to Nancy and by 50% from Paris to Reims.

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