Al boraq’s Rail Infrastructure

An overview of the line, stations and other structures

The main infrastructure of the high-speed line is made up of the newly built section between Tangier and Kenitra. Trains continue until Casablanca on an existing conventional line which is planned to be upgraded.

Line

The newly built double-track line between Tangier and Kenitra is around 193 km along Morocco’s west coast to the Atlantic ocean. It required more than 5,000 workers, 360 of which are engineers and experts working full time.

Al Boraq trains run between Tangier and Casablanca, via Kenitra and Rabat.

Moreover, an average of 4 metric tons of ballast per meter was required before laying the 800 km long rails which amounts into a total of 1.6 million tons. In order to provide the building materials for constructing railway line crossings, a manufacturing factory was also built.

Overview of the main characteristics of the HS line.

Stations

A number of stations were newly built or renovated to serve the high-speed line. The terminal station in Tangiers, also called Gare Tanger Ville, was opened in 2009 and later renovation works were performed so that the terminal station could accommodate the new high-speed trains.

View of the terminal station in Tangier.

Another important station is located in Casablanca which is the largest city and an important economic center in Morocco. The station, also called Gare Casablanca Voyageurs, was first opened in 1923. The station has also undergone extensive renovation works for the new high-speed line. The same station allows passengers to transfer from/to the new tram services in Casablanca.

Tram line T1 in Casablanca which is serving (feeding) the high-speed train station.

Two other renovated stations are Gare Kenitra and Gare Rabat Agdal where the high-speed trains serve Kenitra and Rabat, respectively. Both stations allow for connections with other train services, local bus lines and new tram services (in Rabat).

A new train station is planned to be built in Larache allowing trains to stop between Tangier and Kenitra. Thus, passengers travelling to/from major neighboring cities such as Asilah and Ksar El Kebir will avoid making detours in Tangier.

Overview of the stations and the connecting transport services.

Other structures

The high-speed project required the construction of more than 286 different structures varying from bridges and hydraulic infrastructures to viaducts.

Since the new line is crossing a number of flood prone areas, around 13 viaducts were built. In addition to the viaducts in Sebou and Loukous, a 3.5 km long viaduct, called El Hachef, is the largest one in the project. Located in the south of Tangier, its construction alone costed around 100 million euros. The line is also crossing roads which necessitates building around 169 road/rail bridges.