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Africa's fastest train: Morocco tests new 200mph service

Jibreel

Jibreel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
343
Africa's railway system is about to get a major upgrade with the launch of its fastest ever train.

Engineers in Morocco are testing trains capable of reaching 200mph - the top speed of the Eurostar - slashing journey times between the country's key economic hubs by almost two thirds.

The 215-mile journey from Casablanca to Tangier via the capital city of Rabat will now take just over two hours, rather than five, when the service launches next summer.

During testing on Monday, one train reached 170 mph along a stretch of track between the northern cities of Kenitra and Tangier, it was revealed.

...

The ONCF expects the line to attract six million travellers within its first three years, with other expansions in the North African country planned for the next three decades.
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Source.

Awesome news for Morocco.

Unfortunately I've given up hope for this happening in South Florida ever since Rick Scott killed the Florida High Speed Corridor. In its wake there is Brightline and if that ever finishes construction it will reach only half the speed of this.
 
Africanus II

Africanus II

Member
Oct 26, 2017
403
I was just reading up on the history of high speed rail and rail in general in Africa (as there are plans to revamp Lagos metro transit system).
A shame Nigeria was beaten, but good on Morocco!
 
tino

tino

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,561
Hyperloop is such bullshit. Even if you can achieve the speed (let say they can get to 500mph), it's still way less cost-effective than regular shaped train.

Elon Musk is going to milk decades of new buzz out of it.
 
gozu

gozu

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,334
America
This is going to be a big deal for both economy and , to a lesser degree, tourism.

Shortening the commute time of Casablanca to Tangiers was definitely a no-brainer. Now if only there was a tunnel that connected Tangiers to Algeciras, bridging the gap between Europe and Africa....

One day.
 

Crayons

Member
Oct 25, 2017
165
Meanwhile, NYC subway trains are capped at 50MPH and most of the time dont even hit 15
 
Nivash

Nivash

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,463
Hyperloop "not yet in operation"? They should have marked it Hyperloop*

*fictional concept

EDIT: actually though, this thread deserves more than snark. It's great to hear about the Moroccan development. Trains should be the way to travel long-distance in the future. They're reasonably fast, can transport many, don't require THAT much infrastructure and - unlike aircraft - are already electrified, so can be run completely on renewables.
 
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Hat22

Hat22

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
1,652
Canada
Pretty sure the Hyperloops not going to actually succeed but it's not my money so whatever. Pretty sure people here aren't a fan but Thunderfoot did a pretty good series on it.

Also, it really sucks being in North America. We're never going to have affordable or fast trains that go long distances. Strange how developing countries can get this done but not some of the richest countries on the planet.
 

turmoil7

Community Resettler
Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,181
Nice on Morocco.

As a side note, they have a bid for the 2026WC(rivaling MX-USA-CAN), I guess this is part of what they will show off regarding infrastructure investment.
 
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