2. The Al-Boraq high-speed rail service is a key project for Moroccan infrastructure.
3. It was launched in November 2018 between Rabat and Tangier and carried three million passengers in its first year of service, according to figures from the national railway office ONCF.
4. Al Boraq’s rail stock includes 12 trains. Each service or trip has two locomotives and eight cars with a capacity for 533 passengers.
COSTING
1. The government is providing 4·8bn dirhams alongside 1·9bn dirhams from French and European sources, while 12·3bn has been raised in loans. Project costs are expected to comprise 10bn dirhams for infrastructure, 5·6bn dirhams for railway equipment and 4·4bn dirhams for rolling stock.
2. During 2010-15 ONCF will also be investing 13bn dirhams to modernise its conventional network, including installing a third track between Kénitra and Casablanca, electrifying Fès - Oujda and upgrading Settat - Marrakech. Spending will also be targeted at station refurbishment, new freight terminals and acquiring more rolling stock.
3. ONCF is Morocco's national railway operator. ONCF is a state-owned company that is under the control of the Ministry of Equipment, Transport and Logistics and is responsible for all passenger and freight traffic on the national railway network.
4. France provided 51% of the 20 billion dirhams (€1.8 billion) used to build the project.
CONNECTIVITY
1. Moroccan Transport Minister Abdelkader Amara said a high-speed train will connect the Casablanca airport to the rest of the country, with a four-million-euro investment in a project scheduled to be completed by 2020.
2. In Tangier, there is a modern port that has been in operation for more than 10 years. Situated along one of the world’s busiest shipping routes – the Strait of Gibraltar – it has a capacity of eight million containers, ranking it among the largest transshipment hubs in the Mediterranean. It is also located next to free-trade zones where goods like cars are manufactured for export to Europe.
3. Then there is the network of highways that the government is expanding. It is to cover 3,000 kilometres by 2020, more than double the 1,461 kilometres in 2012, according an official website promoting foreign direct investment in Morocco.
4. On the other side of the Atlas Mountains near the town of Ouarzazate lies the Noor Solar Complex, the largest solar panel farm in the world. With thousands of panels capturing the sun’s rays for the production of electricity, it is at the heart of a programme to increase renewable energy’s contribution to installed electrical capacity to 42% by 2020, and 52% by 2030.
ON TRACK TOWARDS COVERING ITS COSTS
1. the high speed Al Boraq service launched on November 15 2018 had carried 2·5 million passengers in the nine months from January to October.
2. The number of trips is expected to reach 3 million in the first full calendar year in December, equivalent to about 8 250 passengers a day.
3. Al Boraq services operate up to 28 return workings a day over the 363 km between Tanger, Kénitra and Casablanca, reaching a maximum speed of 320 km/h.
4. The fleet of 12 TGV 2N2 double-deck trainsets supplied by Alstom had operated around 7 000 trips, achieving punctuality of about 97%.
5. Khlie had indicated earlier that traffic on the Tanger – Casablanca corridor had increased by around 35%, journey time having been cut from 4 h 45 min to 2 h 10 min.
6. Passenger satisfaction on Al Boraq trains was recorded at 92%, thanks in part to a wide range of fares, comfortable interiors with guaranteed seats, plus high standards of service on board and at stations.
(Source: webuildvalue, ansamed, railwaygazette)
