Achievement / Transport · 2018
Africa’s first very high speed rail line
Al Boraq connected Tangier and Casablanca in 2018, introducing very high speed rail service to Africa.
The full picture
Beyond the number
Al Boraq connected Tangier and Casablanca in 2018, introducing very high speed rail service to Africa.
The high speed railway was developed to connect cities along the Atlantic corridor.
The Tangier–Casablanca line opened in 2018. Alstom describes Al Boraq as Africa’s first very high speed line.
Then / Now
How the story unfolded
Work on the high speed track began.
The Tangier–Casablanca Al Boraq line opened.
Across regions
Where Morocco stands
Maximum operating speed on selected high speed passenger services · km/h
Ten selected services · maximum operating speed
- 1stChina350 km/h
- 1stIndonesia350 km/h
- 3rdJapan320 km/h
- 3rdFrance320 km/h
- 3rdMorocco320 km/h
- 6thSouth Korea305 km/h
- 7thGermany300 km/h
- 7thItaly300 km/h
- 7thSaudi Arabia300 km/h
- 7thSpain300 km/h
China and Indonesia reach 350 km/h; Japan, France, and Morocco reach 320 km/h on the cited services. Ties share a position within these ten selected services. This is not a definitive worldwide rank, and speeds are maximum operating speeds on specific line sections, not average journey speeds or test records. Al Boraq runs at 320 km/h between Tangier and Kénitra, then at 160 km/h toward Casablanca.
Verify it
Sources & further reading
- Alstom · 2018 inauguration
- Alstom · African high speed rail
- Alstom · Al Boraq 320 km/h service
- UIC · Chinese commercial speed
- KCIC · Whoosh operating speed
- JR East · E5 Shinkansen speed
- SNCF · TGV operating speed
- Korail · KTX operational speed
- Deutsche Bahn · ICE 3 operation
- Trenitalia · Frecciarossa operation
- Saudi Arabia Railways · Haramain
- Renfe · S-100
- Alstom · start of construction
Image credits
- Al Boraq high speed train at Tanger Ville station: NicholasNCE · CC BY-SA 4.0
Keep exploring
