MOROCCO | High Speed Rail

[Railfan]

Originally Posted by Slaoui

[CENTER]NAME: TGV MAROCAIN

LOCATION: Casablanca - Tangier

NUMBER: 18 SNCF TGV Duplex Trains

STATUS: PROJECT

WORKS: Casablanca - Tangier : 2009 - 2014

This train originally designed to argentina TAV project?

[arriaca]

Originally Posted by Slaoui

Network :

The Spanish Map have a lot of mistakes with the HSL

[[Prinny Man]]

The works finally beginned...

The Gautrain is not a High Speed Train ! It only reaches 180 km/h, and it's not really a first in Africa cuz Morocco have regional trains that can go up to 170 km/h since 2008 or more !

[diablo234]

Originally Posted by aquablue

Its amazing how countries like Morroco see the light, while backward countries like the USA and Australia hold back.

I can't speak for Australia but the US already has trains that run at speeds of up to 241km on the Northeast Corridor and there are plans to build more HSR lines in the future.

But anyways good for Morocco.

[Ωρτimuş]

High-speed rail project on track in Morocco

Morocco is planning a high-speed rail project costing 20 billion dirhams, but some argue that the money should be spent on higher-priority needs like education.

By Naoufel Cherkaoui for Magharebia in Rabat – 05/02/10

Morocco's plan to construct a high-speed rail network is drawing mixed reviews, with some legislators and ordinary citizens saying the money is needed to meet other goals.

The project will cut travel times between Tangier and Casablanca from more than five hours to just over two. By 2016, some 8 million passengers per year are expected to use the new line, which is the first step in a master plan aimed at building over 1,500km of new tracks by 2035.

The government is convinced of the need for the project. "Faced with the rapid growth of rail transport, we closely studied the most suitable technology for developing the sector," Transport Minister Karim Ghellab said on Monday (February 1st) in Tangier.

"The study concluded that there would be higher socio-economic productivity for the high-speed technology in comparison with classical railways," Ghellab said at a signing ceremony of the contract for the planned high-speed rail project. "In spite of the former's reasonable additional cost, it's characterised by economic features that greatly exceed the advantages of the latter."

"Work on the high-speed train will kick off next June, while the exploitation of the project will begin in December 2015," the minister added at the ceremony, which was presided over by King Mohammed VI.

The contract signed on Monday between the state and the National Railway Office is for a 20 billion-dirham, 2010-2015 project under a wider government programme for social and economic development. The project is to be funded by the state, the Hassan II Fund for Social and Economic Development, and foreign loans. A total of 33 billion dirhams will be invested in developing rail transport as a whole.

Despite the upsides offered by the transport minister, some Moroccans contacted by Magharebia this week said that the huge sums involved should have been allocated to other sectors.

"It's a good thing that Morocco is modernising," said Lahcen Daoudi, a leader of the Party of Justice and Development. "But I'd like to see the reaction of the poor, who need the most basic necessities for living, when we go to them and say we're going to build a high-speed train for them."

"Morocco has to advance in a comprehensive way, because these classes will feel marginalised if we develop certain things at the expense of others," he added. "Therefore, no region should be developed at the expense of others."

The editor-in-chief of the Tangier daily Fadaa al-Boughaz, Ismail Tahiri, called the high-speed rail project "part of the major projects that are important in and of themselves, given that it will reduce the distances, especially for businessmen, between the economic centre that will be created by Tangier on the Mediterranean Sea and Casablanca, which is the economic capital of Morocco. However, these projects strain the state's economy."

"The construction of this project is a form of luxury, given that it will cost 20 billion dirhams," he continued. "These sums should be spent on more vital projects for citizens, such as education, health and infrastructure, now that it's going to be completed using public funds."

"How can such a huge project be carried out in a country where the illiteracy rate is about 30%, and where 2 million students quit school every year; a country that was ranked in 106th out of 128 countries on UNESCO's index of educational development?" he asked.

For his part, Mohammed Hammouchi, vice-president of the Rif Association for Human Rights, said the project "will greatly contribute to citizens' movement. It will boost the movement of domestic and international tourism in the region, and also fill the gaps in regular trains and the rest of the means of transport."

"However, the only negative point is how much the cost of the train took into consideration the purchasing power of citizens, who are already complaining about the high prices of regular trains," he added.

http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi.../05/feature-03

[Ωρτimuş]

Morocco on track for high-speed rail

By David Morgan
Friday, 19 February 2010 17:20

High-speed rail will soon be a familiar feature of the Moroccan landscape once a key transport infrastructure project is completed.

The project is set to radically cut travel times between Tangier and the country’s commercial capital Casablanca from more than five hours to just over two.

By 2016, some eight million passengers per year are expected to use the new high-speed line, Chief Executive of Moroccan National Railways, Mohammed Rabie Khlie told the Maghreb Press Agency, Morocco’s official news.

The new line is the first step in Morocco’s master plan which has ambitious aims at building over 1,500km of new tracks by 2035 as it moves to upgrade its national rail infrastructure network.

Morocco has maintained the most sophisticated rail apparatus in North Africa and is continuing to invest in rail transport to strengthen tourism and also to develop industry and trade links across the wider Mediterranean region. At present Morocco has some 2,000km of track.

The Kingdom hopes to be the first country in the Middle East to have a high-speed rail network on a par with Europe.

The Moroccan government is convinced of the need for the expansion of high-speed rail services. "Faced with the rapid growth of rail transport, we closely studied the most suitable technology for developing the sector," Transport Minister Karim Ghellab said in Tangier.

"The study concluded that there would be higher socio-economic productivity for the high-speed technology in comparison with classical railways," Ghellab said at a recent signing ceremony of the contract for the planned high-speed rail project.

"In spite of the former's reasonable additional cost, it is characterised by economic features that greatly exceed the advantages of the latter."

"Work on the high-speed train will kick off next June, while the exploitation of the project will begin in December 2015," the minister added at the ceremony, which was presided over by King Mohammed VI.

The contract signed on 1 February between the government and the National Railway Office is for a 20 billion-dirham, 2010-2015 project under a wider public programme for social and economic development. It amounts to a huge railway upgrade scheme stretching over six years.

The project is to be jointly funded by the national budget, the Hassan II Fund for Social and Economic Development, and foreign loans. A total of 33 billion dirhams will be invested in developing rail transport as a whole.

"The high-speed train project would cost 20 billion dirhams ($2.47 billion), of which half will go for the line infrastructure and 5.6 billion for railway equipment while the remaining 4.4 billion will be spent in the rolling stock," the transport ministry stated.

The ministry did not say from which foreign firms it would buy the trains and other equipment needed to build and service the planned line.

Industry sources in Rabat said they believed that French railway operator SNCF, heavy engineering group Alstom SA and Bombardier Inc were among the foreign companies vying for part or all of the work on the project.

MEED quoted France’s Alstom as stating that it expects to be awarded the contract to provide rolling stock for the $2.5bn railway line by the end of March.

Alstom Transport submitted its technical and commercial proposals for the high-speed trains in December 2009 and has been holding talks with Rabat officials since then.

“The negotiations should lead to the rolling stock contract signature during the first quarter,” according to a company source quoted by MEED.

Alstom is already building a high-speed rail link between Tangiers and Marrakech.

Moroccan government officials stressed that the railway project dovetailed efforts to bolster economic growth and fight the impact of the global economic slowdown.

The government plans to expand investment spending 20.4 percent this year to spur economic growth of 3.5 percent and offset the impact of the downturn in its main trade partners, mostly in Europe, officials added.

Official estimates show that the economy grew by more than 5 percent last year, almost the same rate as the previous year, as the country garnered its largest cereals crop in 50 years.

The farming sector accounts for up to 17 percent of Morocco's gross domestic product and is the main employer.

Early last month, the state forecasting body, the High Planning Commission, said that it expected the cereals harvest to fall to at least 7 million tonnes this year from 10.2 million tonnes in the previous crop.

Writing in the Railway Gazette, Mohammed Rabie Khlie outlined Morocco’s long-term plans for rail. “High speed is one of the top priorities for operators across the world, as rail seeks to harness the benefits of cutting-edge technology,” the railways executive stated.

“The introduction of high speed rail in Morocco has become all the more necessary as our country has chosen to build closer ties with Europe through trade and is active as a member of the World Trade Organisation.

“The removal of tariff and customs barriers and the dismantling of economic frontiers between countries are a powerful stimulus to rail modernisation, and the choice of a rail tunnel for the fixed link between Europe and Africa beneath the Strait of Gibraltar points to rail as the means for accelerating the integration of transport infrastructure on both continents,” he continued.

“This is the wider background to domestic planning policy where future railway infrastructure projects are firmly concentrated on building high speed lines to serve Morocco's major transport corridors. This will be the major challenge for the next two or three decades, as there can be no doubt that high speed is the future of rail in Morocco.

“Our high speed master plan sets out the programme for building 1 500 km of high speed lines by 2030. Forming the backbone of the nation's transport infrastructure, the high speed network will comprise two routes. The first will serve the Atlantic corridor from Tanger to Agadir via Rabat, Casablanca, Marrakech and Essaouira. The second will form part of a high speed corridor across North Africa, running from Rabat to Oujda via Fès, and then on to Alger, Tunis and Tripoli,” Rabie Khlie said.

Global Arab Network

http://www.english.globalarabnetwork...peed-rail.html

[Ωρτimuş]

MOROCCAN HIGH-SPEED TRAIN

Posted on 19 February 2010

Morocco’s new Tangier-Casablanca high-speed trains will carry 8 million passengers per year, says Office National des Chemins de fer (ONCF – the national railway of Morocco) CEO Mohammed Rabie Khlie. With a capacity of 500 passengers, each trainset will be accessible to the “average citizen” with a departure every hour and every half-hour during periods of heavy traffic. Infrastructural work on the project, scheduled to commence in June 2010. is expected to be complete by the end of 2014, with trains in operation by December 2015.

The Tangier-Casablanca section will form the first stage of the country’s high-speed rail master plan, which envisages more than 1,500km of new lines by 2035. The government plans to promote economic and social development through upgrading major infrastructure networks.

The project is being funded by the state (4.8 billion dirhams), the Hassan II Fund for Economic and Social Development (1 billion dirhams), French and European donations (1.9 billion dirhams) and loans with favourable terms and conditions (12.3 billion dirhams).

It is believed that Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français (SNCF – the French national railway), Alstom SA and Bombardier Inc are among top contenders for involvement in the project.

http://www.railwaysafrica.com/blog/2...h-speed-train/

[Ωρτimuş]

Design of the High-Speed Train in Morocco




Different Layouts of the High-Speed Line between Tangier and Kenitra




in Google Earth




ONCF presentation



SSC Morocco

[Mazene]

Any idea when its scheduled to be finished, they said 2013, but I've heard its nowhere near being ready for 2013!



Immobilier Maroc

[Gadiri]

Originally Posted by Mazene

Any idea when its scheduled to be finished, they said 2013, but I've heard its nowhere near being ready for 2013!



Immobilier Maroc

December 2015.

[Gadiri]

ALSTOM HS TRAINS FOR MOROCCO

Posted on 06 April 2010

France’s Alstom is to supply trains for the first phase of Rabat’s $US2.5bn high-speed rail network. A contract to deliver rolling stock for the line linking Tangier and Kenitra is to be signed by the end of the second quarter of 2010, a company source said. This section is part of a project to link Casablanca with Tangier.

Alstom submitted technical and commercial proposals for the deal to Morocco’s national railway operator Office National des Chemins de Fer (ONCF) in December 2009.

The first phase of the network involves building a 200km high-speed line along the country’s Atlantic coast between the cities of Tangier and Kenitra. The link will be used by trains running at 320km an hour and should be in operation by December 2015. Tenders for the initial civil works, which involve reinforcing the ground where the track will be laid, are due to be issued in the second quarter of 2010, with construction expected to begin in June. Tenders for major construction will follow in early 2011.

A second phase will involve building a high-speed track from Kenitra to Casablanca, a further 130km along the coast. The ONCF plans to build a high-speed network connecting all Morocco’s major cities in the country by 2030.

http://www.railwaysafrica.com/blog/2...s-for-morocco/

the end of the second quarter of 2010

The train aren't bought.

Maybe we will pass from TGV 2N2 :





To AGV Duplex :

[/QUOTE]

By Optimus

[Gadiri]

By Ωρτimuş

TGVM Duplex









Essai de coloriage du TGVM

[Gadiri]

The ONCF project, is to join all big cities to TGV network before 2030.



Tanger-Kenitra works will begin in few weeks. Casa-Marrakesh was planned to be the first TGV line, but Tanger area is booming with Tanger med harbour. So it became an emergency to make this railway and to leave the old line for freight. We are pretty sure, that all new passengers line will be a TGV line in Morocco.

[Gadiri]

MOROCCO - SPAIN | Gibraltar Tunnel | Project

[Gadiri]

The first render :

By Ωρτimuş

Mockup of the future High-Speed Train


far-maroc.forumpro.fr

[Gadiri]

ONCF Spot

[Gadiri]

By Adif and Indra (Spain) Da Vinci System equiped for ERTMS and classical network

[Ωρτimuş]

TGV Duplex of 8 cars

[Gadiri]

HM the King chairs signing ceremony of six agreements on Tangier-Casablanca HST project

Tangier - HM King Mohammed VI presided, on Friday in Tangier, over the signing ceremony of six agreements on the High Speed Train (HST) project linking Tangier to Casablanca and enquired about the progress of this project worth 20 billion dirhams ($2.3 bln).

- The 20 billion dirham-project is part of the policy of large-scale projects undertaken by Morocco and making citizens a central issue of the development strategy.

- The Kingdom supports the development of a system favoring multiple modes of transportation and the protection of the environment.

- The Tangier-Casablanca high speed rail will be operational late 2015.

This project is part of the policy of large-scale projects undertaken by Morocco and seeking to make citizens a central issue of the sustainable development strategy.

During this ceremony Transport and Equipment Minister, Karim Ghellab, presented before the Sovereign the six agreements signed on this occasion.

Five out of the six agreements concern additional funding for the project, the official underscored, saying that these agreements enable securing new financial resources through concessional loans with advantageous interest rates ranging between 1.2 and 3.16%, and much longer grace period of up to twenty yearss.

They are, Ghellab went on to say, two agreements on the French Emerging Country Reserve (RPE) for an amount of 625 million euros, a memorandum of understanding on the loan of the Saudi Fund for Development worth 200 million dollars, a loan agreement with Abu Dhabi Fund for Development for 100 million dollars, as well as a related guarantee agreement.

The sixth agreement is on a purchase contract under which the Moroccan railway office (ONCF) will acquire 14 high speed trains from the French company Alstom, he added.

The Tangier-Casablanca high speed rail will be operational late 2015 on receipt of the trains and the completion of the testing phase, in conformity with world’s known security standards, the Minister noted.

Morocco is making a qualitative leap through the development of its transportation system based on mass transport, multiple modes of transportation and the protection of the environment, he stressed.

The ceremony was marked by the screening of a film on the Tangier-Casablanca High Speed Train project.

Over 6 million travelers are expected to board the train as of the first year when it will be put into service.

To carry out this leading project, financial resources were mobilized namely the State’s budget (4.8 billion dirhams) and that of Hassan II Fund for Economic and Social Development (1 billion dirhams), under the program contract related to the ONCF for 2010-2015 and the agreement with Hassan II Fund, both inked under HM the King’s presidency on February 1st.

Foreign financing is made up of France’s donation of 75 million euros and the 140 million dollars-loan granted by the Kuwait fund for Arab Economic Development.

Morocco has also been approved two loans by the French Development Agency (220 million euros) and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (100 million dollars).

http://www.map.ma/eng/sections/main2...irs_s3657/view

[Gadiri]

Tittle should change from :

High Speed Rail to be built in Morocco

to

MOROCCO : TANGIER - KÉNITRA | High-Speed Rail | 200 km (CASABLANCA + 130 km Upgraded Classic Line) | 320 km/h | #U-C (2010 - 2015)

Indeed, Kenitra-Casablanca classical line will be upgraded to 220km/h ( HSL according to IUC specs with bareers, camera, ERTMS and up 200 km/h speed).

Works began since june 2010.