MOROCCO: National railway ONCF has appointed a consortium led by French consultancy Systra and including a number of local firms as civil engineering project manager for the southern section of the 200 km Tanger - Kénitra line, which is to be built as part of the Tanger - Casablanca high speed rail project.

The 49-month contract signed on April 22 covers overseeing and approving detailed design work and assisting with the award of contracts for 110 km of line running through relatively flat terrain to Kénitra, where the high speed tracks will join the upgraded existing route. Systra completed basic design studies in December 2009.

The Tanger - Casablanca project was allocated 20bn dirhams in the 2010-15 Contract Programme which ONCF and the government signed in February. Operations are planned to start in December 2015.