By Femi Akinola
Spain is located in Europe while morocco is in the northwest of Africa continent. the two countries were separated by the Mediterranean sea. there is currently no deadline of project start date announced.
The construction cost has been estimated to cost between $7 and $8 billion. financing will presumably come from the host countries, Spain and morocco, with additional support from sources such as the European union (eu).
The tunnel would lie about 1,550 feet below sea level, with a minimum gradient of about 3%. the distance would be about 26 miles, with 17 miles of track in the undersea tunnel.
Some of the impetus for rethinking this project came after morocco completed its first-high- speed rail project, a train that connects Casablanca with tangier, in 2023.
This train is for now not only the fastest train on the African continent, but demonstrated that morocco is ready for another rail challenge.
The idea was first discussed by Spain and morocco in 1979. they even conducted visibility studies through 1981, but the underwater rail project failed to progress beyond meeting by officials of the two countries.
Today, Spain and morocco are have resumed discussion on this significant project. they are now considering this bold undertaking, spurred in large part by the approaching 2030 world cup. it will mark the centennial world cup fiesta, and for the first time, three countries from two continents will host the competition: Spain, morocco and Portugal.
Expectedly, fans will want to travel between these countries for matches as quickly as efficiently possible. they might as well do so on this 21st century engineering marvel.
As it was envisaged, after the idea become a reality, the train will depart Madrid, capital of Spain, there would be a stop in the Spanish city of algeciras, at the southern end of Liberian peninsula, near the strait of gibraltar. the train would then head into a tunnel under the strait of Gibraltar, running between punta Palomar in Spain and punta malabata in morocco.
It’s next stop would be the city of tangier in morocco before reaching its terminus in casablanca. between algeciras in Spain and tangier in morocco, the distance was calculated to be about 26 miles, with 17 miles on track in the undersea tunnel.
The strait of Gibraltar, as its narrowest point, is about nine mile gap between the European and African continents. one could imagine the convinience of a high speed under the sea rail tunnel connecting Spain and morocco.
Handlers of the project said this tunnel could reduce travel time from Madrid to Casablanca to just five and a half – hours, a significant improvement from the current 12-hour journey by car and ferry or the two hour flight, the latter much longer if one factor in travel time to and from airports.
The Moroccan national company for strait studies (sned) has announced that it has begun researching the project’s viability, called the euro Africa Gibraltar straight fixed link. last year, Spain commenced similar studies under the umbrella of the Spanish society for fixed communication studies across the strait of Gibraltar (secegsa).