LGV: 92 billion Dirhams for extensions

The railway plan to cover the national territory requires the mobilization of 400 billion Dirhams (USD 40 billion) . It also provides for the development of 10 logistics zones, located across the country, with a total area of 930 hectares. This is at least what emerged from the meeting of the Basic Infrastructure Commission of the House of Representatives which looked into the results and prospects of rail transport.

Mohamed Rabiî Khlie, CEO of the ONCF, provided the Members of Parliament with an overview of the transformative projects in progress and other projects at the stage of studies and financial arrangements. The CEO of ONCF mentioned the Beni Mellal rail link, the electrification of the Fez-Oujda line and of the Agadir-Laayoune and Tangiers-Tetouan lines, as well as the development of regional rail transport on the current network.

However, it was the extension of the high-speed line (LGV) to Marrakech that caught the attention of parliamentarians. The cost of the project is estimated at 42 billion Dirhams (USD 4.2 billion), without taking into account the Casablanca interchange. Thus, it will be necessary to build a double railway, 390 km long, with an operating speed varying between 170 and 320 km/h. The estimated land base for this project amounts to 2,500 hectares. For the boss of the ONCF, the realization of this LGV will reduce the travel time between Casablanca and Marrakech that will stand at 1 hour and 15 minutes, Marrakech-Mohammed V Airport at one hour, and Tangiers-Marrakech at three hours. ONCF expects to welcome 12 million travelers in the first year, and to save 213,000 tons of carbon gas per year. Two hundred thousand jobs will thus be created.

■ Tangiers – Agadir in 4 hours: Mohamed Rabiî Khlie’s dashboard features the construction of the LGV between Marrakech and Agadir. This project requires the mobilization of 50 billion Dirhams (USD 5 billion), not including the cost of mobile equipment. To do so, it will be necessary to build a double track over 139 km, with a mixed passenger and goods link. Added to this is the need to acquire 1,300 hectares. Travel time will increase to four hours between Tangiers and Agadir, two hours and fifteen minutes between Casablanca and Agadir, and one hour between Marrakech and Agadir.

■ Civil engineering, topography, geology studies…: Preliminary studies, particularly concerning basic infrastructure, civil engineering, and topographic survey work on the Marrakech-Agadir line, have been carried out. ONCF is continuing studies on operating methods and preparing geological and geotechnical prospecting operations. The fact remains that the boss of the ONCF insisted on having all these studies appraised by the Chinese railway company, and this within the framework of the memorandum of understanding for cooperation in the railway field, signed in 2016, under the effective presidency of the King, during his visit to China.

Mohamed CHAOUI