Taroudant - On Tuesday, the Moroccan railway company (ONCF) published a video of tests of the high speed train known by its French acronym as TGV.
The tests were performed on the line of the railway station of Sidi Taibi near Kenitra.
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According to Said Nassiri, the director of the TGV Exploitation Project, the tests started January 18, 2016.
“These tests are to make sure that the performance of the TGV, including brakes, speed, and receiving electric power, is going well” the directors said.
The train, which is considered the first of its kind in Africa, is expected to carry “approximately 533 passengers with 121 in first class and 412 in second class.”
According to the same source, “the maximum operating speed of the train is 320 km/h,” adding that the “TGV will connect Tangier to Casablanca in 2 hours” instead of five hours on the current train.
Nassiri said that they have chosen the best operators of the classic line, have trained them in France, and they will operate the new high speed trains in Morocco.
He added that the prices of the tickets have not yet been decided and that they will be subject to a profound study.
When the project was launched by King Mohammed VI and the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy in September 2011, the operation of the high speed train was scheduled for December 2015. This was later postponed to 2017 because of delays caused by infrastructure projects.
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