Breaking stereotypes: Africa's first high-speed railway

Africa's first high-speed railway

When we talk about Africa, we all associate the scenery with 'wildlife paradise'. True, many countries in Africa are dominated by inhospitable landscapes such as grasslands and deserts, but when Morocco opened Africa's first high-speed railway in 2018, linking the northern Moroccan cities of Tangier and Ghenitra, the scenery was no longer the same.

This is the first high-speed railway in Morocco and the whole African continent, and the first in the Arab world. The Al Boraq, the high-speed train from Casablanca to Tangier, takes its name from  a magical horse-like creature in Islamic tradition that served as the mount of the Islamic prophet Muhammad during his Isra and Mi'raj journey from Mecca to Jerusalem and up through the heavens and back by night.

Its speed fluctuates on different sections. The section from Tangier to Ghajnitra is the new railway with a maximum speed of 320 km/h; the section from Ghajnitra to Casablanca is an upgraded section of the old railway with a speed of 160 km/h, which will be upgraded to 220 km/h at a later stage; and the Al Boraq, which is under test, has a maximum speed of 357 km/h.

If you have the opportunity to travel to Morocco, you may want to take a trip on the high-speed railway.

Image Credit: Morocco World News