Morocco and Spain to be linked by a 38-km long undersea railway
Morocco-Spain, Economics, 12/16/2003

A Spanish official source announced that Morocco and Spain will be connected through a double track-railway that would be built under the 300 m deep- Gibraltar Strait.

The railway will be 38.7 km-long, with 27.7 km beneath the sea.

The source added that the decision was made at a meting held on December 2nd in Madrid between Moroccan minister of Equipment and Transportation, Karim Ghallab, and Spanish development minister, Francisco Alvarez Cascos, as part of the joint committee of the fixed connection.

The joint committee also approved the 2004-2006 action plan, and a budget of 27 million Euros. It was also decided to assign the railway project to Morocco's National Society of Detroit Studies (SNED Maroc) and the Spanish Society of fixed communication (SECEGSA).

The Spanish ministry of Development had explained that the tunnel will be around 100 m deep beneath sea, although the tunnel definitive tract and deepness will be determined by geological and geotechnical studies.

The Moroccan Spanish joint committee of the fixed connection explained that Morocco and Spain would bring an equal contribution to 27 million Euros, including 84% which will finance studies related to the depth of the project. The Committee expects all the project technical and socio-economic data to be available by 2008. The European commission will be requested to extend an assistance for the final stages of the project.

According to the same source, the tunnel, made of three galleries, including two major ones and an emergency one, will link Punta Malabata (Tangier) to Punta Palomas (Tarifa).

In a previous declaration to MAP, Ghallab had noted that after the action plan was approved, the drilling operation will start in the fall of 2004.

Ghallab said that the drilling operation will gather, once finished, all the necessary data to kick-start the project.

Previous Stories:
  Morocco, Spain probe project of permanent link in Gibraltar strait   (12/4/2003)
  Spanish farmers protest Morocco-EU farm trade deal   (11/21/2003)
  Moroccan, Spanish women NGOs seal partnership accord   (11/1/2003)

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