The Dirhams 20bn ($US 2.54bn) project involves construction and fitting out of the line and the depot, and acquisition of the rolling stock. Morocco will contribute Dirhams 800m a year to the project. France, as the main financial and technical partner, will contribute Euros 920m. Other funding will come from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, and Fades.
Moroccan National Railways (ONCF) will also upgrade the existing line between Kénitra and Casablanca to reduce the journey time between Tangier and Casablanca from 3h 40min today to 2h 20min when the project is completed in 2015. ONCF expects traffic to increase from 52 million journeys at present to 133 million once the high-speed service is fully operational.
