Morocco’s 2026–2031 Government Programme Prioritizes Rail Expansion and Infrastructure Development

Marrakech, The Gulf Observer: Morocco’s Head of Government, Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, has presented the government’s official programme for 2026–2031 before both houses of Parliament, outlining an ambitious infrastructure agenda aimed at strengthening regional connectivity, boosting economic competitiveness and attracting domestic and foreign investment.

The 133-page programme identifies infrastructure as a key instrument for ending the isolation of different regions, connecting major economic centres and promoting balanced territorial development. It also highlights the need to prepare the country for major international events, particularly the 2030 FIFA World Cup.

The government has placed railway development at the centre of its sustainable mobility strategy, outlining two investment phases: completion of the ongoing 2024–2030 investment cycle, valued at MAD 134 billion (approximately $13.4 billion), followed by a new investment programme covering 2030–2035.

During the first phase, the government intends to accelerate four major railway projects, including extending the high-speed rail line between Kenitra and Marrakech, introducing regional express railway services in five regions, electrifying the Fez–Oujda railway line and completing the rail connection to the Nador West Med port.

The planned regional express services will cover Casablanca–Settat, Rabat–Salé–Kénitra, Marrakech–Safi, Tanger–Tétouan and the Oriental region, improving public transport connectivity and facilitating movement between major urban and economic centres.

The second phase, covering 2030–2035, introduces a new set of railway investments, including extending the high-speed network towards Agadir and connecting Essaouira to the railway system. The programme also proposes rehabilitating the Casablanca–Khouribga–Oued Zem line and constructing a new railway between Oued Zem and Beni Mellal via Bejaad, with a branch towards Fquih Ben Salah.

Additional projects include upgrading and doubling the 140-kilometre Benguerir–Safi railway line, increasing capacity along the Fez–Oujda corridor, rehabilitating existing stations, constructing modern-generation stations and expanding the national railway network.

The proposed extension towards Agadir has already received a legal foundation. Decree No. 2.26.605, dated September 1 and published in the Official Gazette on September 7, declared the Marrakech–Agadir and Chichaoua–Essaouira high-speed railway projects to be of public utility. The decree initiates procedures for land acquisition and expropriation but does not indicate that construction has begun.

Transport and Logistics Minister Abdessamad Kayouh previously estimated the cost of the Marrakech–Agadir high-speed railway link at approximately MAD 55 billion ($5.5 billion). He identified crossing the High Atlas Mountains as a major engineering challenge, with bridges and tunnels expected to account for nearly 70 per cent of the planned structures.

According to the minister, his department and the National Railways Office (ONCF) were working to attract international partners to finance and construct the project. However, no financing agreement had been signed at the time of his statement.

The programme also leaves some details regarding Essaouira’s railway connection unresolved. While it commits to linking the city to the expanded network, it does not specify the precise type of railway line that will serve it.

Reports indicate that the high-speed line towards Agadir is expected to pass through Chichaoua across the High Atlas Mountains, with trains operating at speeds of up to 320 kilometres per hour. The approximately 240-kilometre route is projected to reduce travel time between Marrakech and Agadir to around one hour.

Essaouira, meanwhile, could be connected through a separate line branching off at Chichaoua, designed for trains operating at speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour under the broader Plan Rail Maroc 2040 framework.

Work on the existing Kenitra–Marrakech high-speed railway line had reached approximately 30 per cent completion by May, with services planned to begin in September 2029.

However, that timeline does not apply to the proposed Marrakech–Agadir extension, for which no completion date has been announced. Although the government programme establishes 2035 as the horizon for the new investment cycle, it does not yet provide detailed financing arrangements or individual implementation schedules for the proposed projects.

The railway expansion forms part of Morocco’s broader strategy to modernise its transport infrastructure, strengthen regional integration, improve mobility and support long-term economic development ahead of the 2030 FIFA World Cup.