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Marrakech – A CBS 60 Minutes episode aired on April 5 cited Morocco’s Al Boraq high-speed train as a model of modern rail engineering, contrasting it with the United States’ failure to build its own.
The segment, reported by Jon Wertheim, opened with a pointed acknowledgment. “The very model of modern engineering, it hums across the fruited plains at a top speed of 200 miles-an-hour. It revolutionized travel, it’s a source of national pride… in Morocco,” Wertheim said.
The episode examined California’s stalled high-speed rail project. Voters approved it in 2008 with a $33 billion price tag and a 2020 completion date. In 2026, no trains run, and no track has been laid.
The project’s scope has shrunk from a Los Angeles-San Francisco connection to a segment linking Bakersfield and Merced. The estimated cost for the full line has ballooned to $126 billion. “It was a complete bait and switch,” said Congressman Vince Fong.
When Wertheim asked Lou Thompson directly – “Morocco has high-speed rail, and Serbia, and China, and Japan, and Western Europe. Why don’t we?” – the Amtrak co-founder offered a blunt explanation for why over 20 countries have high-speed rail, and the US does not.
Morocco decided, and the US hasn’t
“The simple answer is they’ve decided they want to do it and pay for it, and we haven’t,” Thompson responded without hesitation.
Indeed, Morocco decided. Al Boraq, Africa’s first and only high-speed rail service, launched on November 15, 2018. It connects Tangier and Casablanca via Kenitra and Rabat, covering 323 kilometers.
On the dedicated high-speed segment between Tangier and Kenitra, trains reach up to 320 km/h. The service cut travel time between the two cities from four hours and 45 minutes to two hours and 10 minutes.
According to ONCF’s 2025 results, presented at a board meeting on April 9 in Rabat, Al Boraq carried 5.6 million passengers during the year, a 3% increase over 2024. The service generated MAD 848 million ($84.8 million) in revenue in its seventh year of operation.
ONCF is now expanding. King Mohammed VI launched construction of the 430-kilometer Kenitra-Marrakech high-speed line on April 24, 2025, at a cost of MAD 53 billion ($5.3 billion) excluding rolling stock.
The line will connect Rabat, Casablanca, and Marrakech while serving both Rabat and Casablanca airports. Once completed, travel time from Tangier to Marrakech will drop to two hours and 40 minutes.
Three contracts were signed for 168 new-generation trainsets worth MAD 29 billion ($2.9 billion), including 18 high-speed trains from Alstom.
The expansion is part of a broader MAD 96 billion ($9.6 billion) rail investment program. Transport Minister Kayouh said the program is advancing on schedule one year after its launch.
