By rosebell
With an estimated cost of almost $140m, construction of a tunnel project in the city of Rabat with 3.3km length is the plan of Morocco’s national railway operator L’Office National des Chemins de Fer (ONCF).
Linking the Sale and Agdal stations in Rabat, this tunnel is going to be constructed beneath the Bou Regreg river.
As local media reports, the project’s launch’s aim is improving traffic flow between Rabat and Sale, whereas Morocco is investing in the development of railway infrastructure across the country in preparation for the Fifa World Cup 2030.
In order to expanding its railway network ahead of the football competition,ONCF said that it would buy 168 trains for about $2.9bn from South Korea, France and Spain.
Additionally, ONCF will purchase trains from South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem, France’s Alstom and Spain’s Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles.
For building its Kenitra-Marrakech high-speed railway line, ONCF concluded several civil works contracts in October last year.
Considering that connecting more of Morocco’s cities, ports and airports by train, is the content of this project that is part of a $37bn strategy, it will stretch 375km from Kenitra on the northwest coast to Marrakech in the south.
Being divided into seven lots each measuring 36-64km, this project’s rail link is slated to traverse cities including Rabat, Sale, Casablanca and Marrakech.
The Al-Boraq railway, which is a high-speed rail line between Tangier, Rabat and Casablanca, will be developed through this link. As Africa’s first high-speed railway system, the line commenced operating in 2018.
