French President Emmanuel Macron and Morocco's King Mohammed VI are inaugurating Morocco's first high-speed rail line, the first ever such line in Africa.

The $2 billion project was launched in September 2011 by the king and Nicolas Sarkozy, the former president of France, which jointly funded the line with several Arab states.

Known as the LGV — French for "high speed line" — it will connect the economic hubs of Tangier and Casablanca in 2 hours 10 minutes at a speed of 320 km/h (199m/h) instead of almost 5 hours on a regular train. It will be inaugurated Thursday.

The king named the first line Al Boraq after a mythical winged creature that transported the prophets to the heavens. </s> RABAT, Morocco — French President Emmanuel Macron and Morocco’s King Mohammed VI have inaugurated Morocco’s first high-speed rail line, the first ever such line in Africa.

Known as the LGV, it will connect the economic hubs of Tangier and Casablanca in 2 hours 10 minutes at a speed of up to 320 kph (199 mph) instead of almost 5 hours on a regular train.

The Moroccan and French leaders boarded the train in Tangier after they were handed tickets by Director General of the National Railway Office Mohamed Rabie Khlie, according to State agency MAP.

They were expected to reach the country’s capital, Rabat, 1 hour and 15 minutes later.

The $2 billion project was launched in September 2011 by the king and Nicolas Sarkozy, then president of France.

France financed 51 per cent of the project, Morocco 28 per cent and the remaining 21 per cent was provided by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Macron’s office said the Moroccan line is an international showcase for the French-made high-speed train. Morocco bought 12 such trains from French manufacturer Alstom.

The king named the first line Al Boraq after a mythical winged creature that transported the prophets to the heavens.

Morocco’s railway office expects 6 million passengers on the line in the first three years of operation.

While the Moroccan government and businesses praised the project as a key achievement in developing the country’s infrastructure, the line has sparked controversy for its high cost. Critics say that Morocco should be investing in education and health instead.

The criticism gained strength mid-October when a train derailed, killing seven people and injuring more than 100. </s> By The Associated Press

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron and Morocco’s King Mohammed VI have inaugurated Morocco’s first high-speed rail line, the first ever such line in Africa. Known as the LGV, it will connect the…

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron and Morocco’s King Mohammed VI have inaugurated Morocco’s first high-speed rail line, the first ever such line in Africa.

Known as the LGV, it will connect the economic hubs of Tangier and Casablanca in 2 hours 10 minutes at a speed of up to 320 kph (199 mph) instead of almost 5 hours on a regular train.

The Moroccan and French leaders boarded the train in Tangier after they were handed tickets by Director General of the National Railway Office Mohamed Rabie Khlie, according to State agency MAP.

They were expected to reach the country’s capital, Rabat, 1 hour and 15 minutes later.

The $2 billion project was launched in September 2011 by the king and Nicolas Sarkozy, then president of France.

France financed 51 percent of the project, Morocco 28 percent and the remaining 21 percent was provided by Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Macron’s office said the Moroccan line is an international showcase for the French-made high-speed train. Morocco bought 12 such trains from French manufacturer Alstom.

The king named the first line Al Boraq after a mythical winged creature that transported the prophets to the heavens.

Morocco’s railway office expects 6 million passengers on the line in the first three years of operation.

While the Moroccan government and businesses praised the project as a key achievement in developing the country’s infrastructure, the line has sparked controversy for its high cost. Critics say that Morocco should be investing in education and health instead.

The criticism gained strength mid-October when a train derailed, killing seven people and injuring more than 100.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed. </s> Known as the LGV — French for "high speed line" — it will connect the economic hubs of Tangier and Casablanca in 2 hours 10 minutes at a speed of 320 km/h (199m/h) instead of almost 5 hours on a regular train. It will be inaugurated Thursday. </s> French President Emmanuel Macron and Morocco's King Mohammed VI are expected to inaugurate Africa's first high-speed train line on Thursday.

These high-speed trains are flashing along the Atlantic coast of Morocco.

The French-made double-decker TGVs are being tested today ahead of the launch of a flagship new line connecting Tangier with Morocco's economic capital Casablanca in 2018.

The $2 billion project has been in development for a decade, funded by the governments of Morocco, France, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE.

King Mohammed VI and the Moroccan government expect the trains to deliver wealth and prestige for the country. But opponents claim they are an expensive folly.

The Tangiers-Casablanca route is expected to generate a sharp increase in passenger numbers that will boost tourism, support wider economic growth in the cities, and recoup the investment on it.

The director general went on to add that growing passenger numbers had caused "saturation of the network," making the new line a necessity.

He denied that an upgraded service would lead to high costs for passengers.

"We will run trains intended for Moroccans and thus adapted to the purchasing power of Moroccans," said Khlie. "We do not want a train reserved for high-end customers."

"The ONCF business model is based on the French model in which trains are heavily subsidized," he says. "If the number of passengers does not materialize in two to three years, the government will have to provide subsidies."

The government will hope to stimulate new economic activity in areas along the route, according to the analyst.

The new train line will impress foreign investors but they are likely to remain wary of Morocco, according to Riccardo Fabiani, a senior analyst at the Eurasia Group.

"If you are a businessman deciding to install an operation in Africa and you are torn between Morocco and another country, this kind of modern world-class infrastructure could help tip the balance," he says. "But there are other problems with the domestic economy."

"The current authorities are replicating the colonial model of looking at some areas like Tangier and Casablanca but forgetting the rest of country," says the analyst. "So there is world class infrastructure in one area and untarred roads in others."

"Morocco is a poor country and the top priority should be education," says Omar Balafraj, a leader campaigner and member of parliament for the Federation of the Democratic Left party.

Balafraj tells a joke that he feels captures the folly of the project: "A man meets a homeless man who is almost naked, and asks him what he needs. He answers: 'only a ring.'"

But despite such reservations, the project is almost certainly too far advanced now to be stopped in its tracks.

The high-speed Tangier to Casablanca service will soon be welcoming its first passengers. </s> RABAT, Morocco (AP) — A shuttle train linking the Moroccan capital to a town farther north on the Atlantic coast derailed Tuesday, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens, Moroccan authorities and the state…

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — A shuttle train linking the Moroccan capital to a town farther north on the Atlantic coast derailed Tuesday, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens, Moroccan authorities and the state news agency said.

The provisional death toll of seven came from the MAP news agency, which cited a regional health official.

MAP also reported, based on information from an unnamed source at the military hospital in Rabat where the injured were being treated, that seven people were seriously hurt.

The shuttle train linking Rabat to the town of Kenitra derailed about halfway between the two, in the town of Sidi Bouknadel, near the city of Sale.

Sale Deputy Mayor Abdellatif Soudou said rescue workers were searching for passengers who might be trapped in the twisted wreckage of the train. Dozens were injured in the derailment, Soudou said.

The Moroccan king, Mohammed VI, offered to pay the costs of the victims’ funerals out of his own pocket, MAP reported.

Copyright © 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed. </s> A shuttle train linking the Moroccan capital to a town farther north on the Atlantic coast has derailed, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens, Moroccan authorities and the state news agency said.

A shuttle train linking the Moroccan capital to a town farther north on the Atlantic coast has derailed, killing at least seven people and injuring dozens, Moroccan authorities and the state news agency said.

Seven killed as shuttle train derails in Morocco

The provisional death toll of seven came from the MAP news agency, which cited a regional health official.

Seven people were seriously hurt, according to the same report, and were at a military hospital in Rabat.

The shuttle train linking Rabat to the town of Kenitra derailed about halfway between the two, in the town of Sidi Bouknadel, near the city of Sale.

Sale deputy mayor Abdellatif Soudou said rescue workers were searching for passengers who might be trapped in the twisted wreckage of the train.

Dozens were injured in the derailment, Mr Soudou said.

The Moroccan king, Mohammed VI, offered to pay the costs of the victims’ funerals out of his own pocket, MAP reported. </s> RABAT, Morocco — At least seven people died and nearly 80 were injured after a shuttle train linking the Moroccan capital to a town farther north on the Atlantic coast derailed Tuesday, authorities at the accident site said.

The train derailed about halfway between Rabat and the town of Kenitra, near the city of Sale. Tangled in the wreckage were doors and seats that had been gouged out of place, while passengers’ belongings and glass from broken windows littered the accident site.

Emergency workers rushed people to hospitals in Rabat, Sale and Kenitra while rescue teams searched for more victims with the help of cadaver dogs. Military personnel guarded the site as railway workers and authorities started to investigate why the train jumped its tracks.

Local residents were the first to reach the scene in the town of Sidi Bouknadel, helping injured or trapped survivors out of mangled train cars and covering the bodies of the dead. They reported the accident happened at around 9:30 a.m.

“We heard a gigantic explosion. The earth shook and the sound was unbearable,” Mourad El Kbiri, who owns a cafe near where the train detailed, told The Associated Press. “I rushed to see what happened. It was horrific. Disfigured bodies all over the place, blood and body pieces.”

The Center for Blood Immunization declared a state of emergency and dispatched blood collection vehicles to Rabat, Kenitra, Sale and Sidi Bouknadel to receive donors.

The general director of state-owned railway company ONCF, Mohamed Rabie Khlie, and Morocco’s interior and transport ministers visited the accident site briefly, but refused to comment.

The Moroccan king, Mohammed VI, offered to pay the costs of victims’ funerals out of his own pocket, state news agency MAP reported. </s> Mombasa, Kenya — Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday inaugurated a Chinese-built railway, the country’s biggest infrastructure project since independence, that is aimed at cementing its role as the gateway to East Africa.

The boxy red-and-white diesel train left from a gleaming new terminal in the port city of Mombasa, carrying Kenyatta, Chinese dignitaries and citizens from across the country on its maiden journey to Nairobi. The five-hour journey will take less than half the time to drive between the two cities, a hair-raising trip on a one-lane highway clogged with lumbering trucks and where accidents claim dozens of lives each year.

"Today we celebrate one of the key cornerstones to Kenya’s transformation to an industrialised, prosperous, middle-income country," Kenyatta said at the inauguration ceremony.

Dubbed the Madaraka (Freedom) Express, the train can carry 1,260 passengers and replaces the "Lunatic Express" — a railway built more than a century ago by colonial Britain and known for its breakdowns.
The Kenitra–Tangier high-speed rail line, the first in Africa, is inaugurated.