In December 2010 Alstom won a contract to supply 14 high-speed TGV trains to Morocco, connecting cities such as Tangiers and Casablanca and massively reducing journey times by rail. In fact, the section between Tangiers and Casablanca is set to halve, from almost five hours to just 2 hours 10 minutes.
According to Alstom, the trains are being developed and built largely in France, but also in Belgium, Italy and Canada. On 29 June 2015 the first TGV Duplex train arrived at the port of Tangiers.
Originally scheduled to open in December 2015, there have been some delays and the new opening date has been moved to June 2018. It is thought that the tracks will be fully laid by March this year, with testing to begin at the end of 2017.
Morocco would be the first country in Africa to acquire such a high-speed line, complying with international standards for very high-speed rail travel.
