Morocco's national railway operator L'Office National des Chemins de Fer (ONCF) has announced plans to construct a tunnel project in the city of Rabat.

The 3.3-kilometre (km) tunnel will be built at an estimated cost of about $140m and will be constructed under the Bou Regreg river, to connect the Sale and Agdal stations in Rabat.

According to local media reports, the project has been launched to improve traffic flow between Rabat and Sale.

Morocco is investing in the development of railway infrastructure across the country in preparation for the Fifa World Cup 2030.

Earlier this week, ONCF said that it will buy 168 trains for about $2.9bn from South Korea, France and Spain, to expand its railway network ahead of the football competition.

ONCF will also purchase trains from South Korea's Hyundai Rotem, France's Alstom and Spain's Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles.

In October last year, ONCF awarded several civil works contracts to build its Kenitra-Marrakech high-speed railway line.

The project is part of a $37bn strategy to connect more of Morocco’s cities, ports and airports by train. It will stretch 375km from Kenitra on the northwest coast to Marrakech in the south.

The project is divided into seven lots, each measuring 36km-64km. The rail link will traverse cities including Rabat, Sale, Casablanca and Marrakech.

The link will extend the Al-Boraq railway, a high-speed rail line between Tangier, Rabat and Casablanca. The line started operating in 2018 and was Africa’s first high-speed railway system.

READ MEED’s YEARBOOK 2025

MEED’s 16th highly prized flagship Yearbook publication is available to read, offering subscribers analysis on the outlook for the Mena region’s major markets.

Published on 31 December 2024 and distributed to senior decision-makers in the region and around the world, the MEED Yearbook 2025 includes: