MOROCCAN National Railways (ONCF) has announced an allocation of Dirhams 695m ($US 69m) for civil works on the project to build the 492km high-speed line between Kénitra and Marrakech.
Trains will operate at up to 320km/h on the new line, which will be designed for maximum speed of 350 km/h.
It will serve major urban centres including Rabat, Salé and Casablanca, and the project includes the construction of a new station in Marrakesh, as well as a rolling stock maintenance facility at Kénitra.
Connections with the existing ONCF network are planned at Rabat-Agdal, Ain Sebaa, Bouskoura, Nouaceur, Settat, Ben Guerir and Sidi Ghanem.
ONCF has begun tendering for a Dirhams 10.4m contract to provide environmental and social compliance services for the project.
This will include the preparation of an environmental and social management plan to ensure that current regulations are respected in areas such as land clearance, construction waste management and groundwater protection.
Separately, ONCF has confirmed the award of a contract to undertake the preliminary design of the Marrakech - Agadir high-speed line to China Railway Design Corporation (CRDC), following what is says was an open tendering process.
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