Sarkozy kicks off work on first African high-speed rail line

[DET63]

French President Nicolas Sarkozy landed in Morocco's northern city of Tangiers on Thursday to help kick off work on Africa's first high-speed rail line, which will link the port town of Casablanca to the country's southern capital Rabat. 

AFP - French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived Thursday to kick off work on Africa's first high-speed rail line, in a bid to highlight France's role in delivering the project.

 

He was met at Tangiers airport by King Mohammed ahead of the joint launch of the 350-kilometer (219-mile) project linking the northern port city with Casablanca to the south via the capital Rabat.

 

Sarkozy, who was accompanied by a clutch of ministers and other officials, was to have talks with the king afterwards before returning to Paris.

 

The Tangiers-Casablanca line, scheduled to enter service in 2015, cutting the journey time from nearly six hours to just over two hours, will eventually be extended to Marrakesh and Agadir, Moroccan officials have said.

Link

This may come as a shock to anyone who thinks the only trains in Morocco consist entirely of camels.

 

[caravanman]

The best known train in Morocco? Must be this express:

 

[George Harris]

A references. maybe some others later:

www.egis-rail-com/References2/High-Speed-Lines then go to the lower right side of the page, find "press" and click on teh link that says Epis Rail High-speed Lines Kenitra Tanger, and it will give you a pdf file that talks some about the project, with a lot of puffery, of course.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I just hope that America can eventually catch up with Morroco's high speed rail network some day.

 

[trainviews]

Well South Africa's Gautrain has been in operation since the Soccer World Cup last year and is currently getting expanded.

But then again, they don't speak French in SA, and nor did Sarkozy open it, so it probably doesn't count for AFP...