Infrastructure Cartography
The High-Speed Horizon
How Morocco is shrinking. Four eras. One country pulling its cities together.
In 1920, Tangier to Marrakech took 18 hours by colonial rail — if the train ran at all. By 2029, Al Boraq will do it in 2 hours 40 minutes. Casablanca and Rabat, once a three-hour journey, are now 25-minute commuter twins. Morocco is not building a train. It is collapsing distance. The 430 km Kenitra–Marrakech extension, launched in April 2025 at $5.3 billion, will create a 630 km high-speed spine from Tangier to Marrakech — Africa's longest — operational before the 2030 World Cup.
630km
HSR spine by 2029
320km/h
top speed
$5.3B
Kenitra–Marrakech cost
2h40
Tangier–Marrakech (was 7h+)
The Melting Map
Cities pull toward each other as travel time shrinks. Select an era. Watch the country compress. Red dots = HSR-connected cities. Red lines = high-speed routes.
The Commuter's Ghost
Select two cities. See how travel time collapsed across a century.
15h 20m
saved per trip (1920 → 2030)
111.9M
human-hours saved/year (est.)
HSR
2030 technology
Full HSR by 2029. 7h → 2h40.
All Routes: Century of Compression
Every route, sorted by time saved. HSR routes in red. Click to expand.
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This visualization may not be reproduced without visible attribution.
© 2026 Dancing with Lions. All rights reserved.
This visualization may not be reproduced without visible attribution.
© 2026 Dancing with Lions. All rights reserved.
This visualization may not be reproduced without visible attribution.
© 2026 Dancing with Lions. All rights reserved.
This visualization may not be reproduced without visible attribution.
© 2026 Dancing with Lions. All rights reserved.
This visualization may not be reproduced without visible attribution.
© 2026 Dancing with Lions. All rights reserved.
This visualization may not be reproduced without visible attribution.
© 2026 Dancing with Lions. All rights reserved.
This visualization may not be reproduced without visible attribution.
© 2026 Dancing with Lions. All rights reserved.
This visualization may not be reproduced without visible attribution.
© 2026 Dancing with Lions. All rights reserved.
This visualization may not be reproduced without visible attribution.
© 2026 Dancing with Lions. All rights reserved.
This visualization may not be reproduced without visible attribution.
© 2026 Dancing with Lions. All rights reserved.
This visualization may not be reproduced without visible attribution.
© 2026 Dancing with Lions. All rights reserved.
This visualization may not be reproduced without visible attribution.
© 2026 Dancing with Lions. All rights reserved.
This visualization may not be reproduced without visible attribution.
Rail Timeline: 1916 → 2040
From colonial narrow gauge to Africa's longest high-speed network.
French protectorate builds first rail: Casablanca–Rabat
Tangier–Fes line opens (narrow gauge)
National rail network reaches 1,700 km
ONCF created. Post-independence modernisation begins
Shuttle service Casa–Rabat (60 min, every 30 min)
HSR project announced. Tangier–Casablanca selected
Al Boraq inaugurated. Africa's first HSR. Tangier–Casa 2h10
Kenitra–Marrakech HSR construction launched (430 km)
Target: Tangier–Marrakech HSR complete. 2h40 end-to-end
Vision: 1,500 km HSR. Agadir, Fes, Oujda connected
Reading Notes
The Twin-City Effect
Casablanca–Rabat at 25 minutes by HSR is commuter distance. Workers live in one city, work in the other. Real estate markets merge. This is not transport — it is urban planning by rail. The same effect will hit Marrakech when it becomes 70 minutes from Casablanca. Marrakech ceases to be “the south” and becomes a suburb.
The World Cup Logic
The 2030 World Cup demands that fans move between host cities within a day. Tangier to Marrakech in 2h40 makes this possible without flying. Morocco is building permanent infrastructure, not temporary stadiums. The HSR spine will outlast the tournament by decades — connecting the Atlantic axis that holds 70% of Morocco's population.
The East Remains Far
Fes and Oujda are not on the HSR plan until after 2030. The eastern corridor — Fes–Taza–Oujda — remains conventional rail, 5+ hours. Morocco's shrinking is asymmetric: the Atlantic coast compresses while the interior and east stay far. The isochrone map reveals two Moroccos: one accelerating, one waiting.
Rail Network
Distance is not measured in kilometres. It is measured in hours. When Tangier and Marrakech are 2 hours 40 minutes apart, they are closer than London and Edinburgh. Morocco is not extending a railway. It is redesigning the shape of a country — pulling its edges toward a centre that no longer needs to be geographic. The centre is wherever the train stops next.
Sources
Al Boraq specifications: ONCF, Wikipedia. HSR extension: Railway Gazette International (Apr 2024), construction launched Apr 2025 (Newsweek, Gadget.co.za). $5.3B cost: ONCF via Travelling for Business (May 2025). 168 trains: Railway Technology (Dec 2023). Historic travel times reconstructed from ONCF archives, colonial railway timetables (Compagnie des Chemins de Fer du Maroc), and modern ONCF schedules. 2030 projected times from ONCF announced targets. 2040 vision: ONCF Rail Strategy 2040, IEA-PVPS Morocco profile. Fes–Oujda conventional times from current ONCF schedules. Passenger estimates are editorial calculations based on ONCF ridership data (Al Boraq: ~3M passengers in first year, growing).
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