Kenitra–Marrakech High-Speed Rail: Where It Stands

Morocco opened Africa’s first high-speed railway, Al Boraq, between Tangier and Casablanca in 2018. ONCF, the national railway operator, is now building the next section: a new line of about 430 kilometres from Kenitra to Marrakech, through Rabat and Casablanca and their airports. If it opens as planned in 2029, Tangier to Marrakech would take about two hours and forty minutes.

The project is funded and under construction. It is not open, and its works are already changing journeys around Casablanca. This dossier separates the three.

Where each part of the programme stands

What is being built

The new line continues the existing high-speed track south from Kenitra. According to ONCF’s project presentations, it serves Rabat, with a new station at Rabat-Salé airport, then Casablanca, including a station at Mohammed V airport and a redeveloped Casa Facultés station, renamed Casa Sud and intended as the city’s main rail hub, before running on to Benguerir and Marrakech. A station is also planned for the Grand Stade Hassan II in Benslimane Province.

Construction is well under way along the route. By ONCF’s first-anniversary update on 24 April 2026, land acquisition was complete and earthworks, bridges and tunnels were in progress, including around Casablanca airport; the transport minister later put overall progress at nearly 30%. That is a rough guide, not a measure of how much track is ready, and it does not settle when trains will run: track, signalling, testing and safety approval all still lie between the works and a timetable.

Investment and trains

The new line is part of a wider railway programme announced in April 2025. The government and ONCF put the high-speed extension at MAD 53 billion, within a MAD 96 billion programme that also includes new trains and suburban services. ONCF has ordered trains for the expanded network, but orders and construction contracts are not operating services.

Timeline: realistic dates

ONCF describes end-of-2029 operation as its target, and the transport minister has cited September 2029. Both dates are targets. Between finished track and a published timetable come signalling installation, power-up, test running, safety approval and driver training; any of them can move a date.

The targets for journey times, given by ONCF’s project director, are:

• Tangier to Rabat: about 1 hour.
• Tangier to Casablanca: about 1 hour 40 minutes, against about 2 hours 10 minutes today.
• Tangier to Marrakech: about 2 hours 40 minutes.
• Rabat to Casablanca airport: about 35 minutes.

None of these is bookable today. Use them to understand the plan, not to build an itinerary.

What the works mean for journeys now

Around Casablanca, expect change. In September 2026 ONCF changed services in two stages. On 5 and 6 September the airport train was suspended and replaced by Supratours coaches, the direct Safi–Casablanca train did not run and Khouribga trains terminated at Berrechid. From 14 September a new transport plan came in, with timetable changes, altered stopping patterns, shortened routes and the progressive closure of stations including Casa Facultés and Ennassim.

The practical rule: before any Casablanca journey, and especially before an airport transfer, check the exact service for your date on ONCF. Our Casablanca airport guide covers the alternatives.

Elsewhere, journeys are as before. Al Boraq still runs Tangier–Kenitra–Rabat–Casablanca. Marrakech, Fes and Meknes are on the conventional network. The ONCF train guide covers booking, classes and stations.

For residents of the Casablanca region, the RER programme and new stations promise shorter, more frequent journeys in the second half of the decade. Until then, the works mean diversions and temporary closures.

Accessibility

New stations and trains are being built now, which is the point at which step-free access, platform-level boarding and clear signage are decided. We have not found published station-by-station accessibility specifications for the new line; we will report them when ONCF releases them. Travellers who need assistance today should contact ONCF before travel, as availability varies by station.

What it means for 2030

If the line opens in 2029, four of Morocco’s six host cities (Tangier, Rabat, Casablanca and Marrakech) and the Casablanca and Rabat-Salé airports would be linked by high-speed rail, as would the Grand Stade Hassan II. Fes and Agadir would not. That would make rail the backbone for supporters moving between most venues. If it slips, the conventional network and the motorways take the load. Either way, the 2030 match-day service pattern will be published by ONCF, and only then can it be planned around.