Saudi King Abdullah bin Aziz Al Saud has granted Morocco a donation of 200 million dollars towards the financing of the new TGV line set to link Tangiers with Casablanca.

The new stretch of TGV track from Tangiers to Casablanca is one of the largest transport projects Morocco intends to complete by 2015 to boost its socio-economic development. The total cost of the line, the first to be built in Africa, has been estimated at 200 billion euros by Morocco’s Transport Ministry.
France recently agreed to lend Morocco 625 million euros to finance rolling stock and equipment for the line, on which work will begin during the course of 2010.
The new link will cut travel times between Tangiers and Casablanca from 5 hours 45 minutes to just 2 hours 10 minutes.