In April ONCF awarded a Systra-led consortium the contract to manage
civil works on the 122km southern section of the line. Systra also
carried out the basic design study for general infrastructure and
operating systems, which was completed last December.

Preliminary works have already started on the Dirhams 20 billion ($US
2.5 billion) project, which will be completed in 2015. The Moroccan
government is contributing Dirhams 4.8 billion to the project, while
French and European sources are providing Dirhams 1.9 billion and
Dirhams 12.3 billion has been secured in loans.

ONCF is expected to order a fleet of Alstom Duplex double-deck
high-speed trains, which will be maintained at a dedicated facility in
Tangiers.