6 amazing things you need to know about the fastest train in Africa

The inauguration was done in the renovated station of Tangiers, a city of northern Morocco by King Mohammed VI in the company of French president Emmanuel Macron.

The two were on board the first trip from Tangiers to Rabat, the administrative capital.

According to the Moroccan Ministry of Transport, fifty per cent of the project was financed by France through various loans, estimated at $2.5 billion, almost 15% more than the initial estimates.

Below are 6 things about the train

• The train is also called the Tangier-Casablanca line, it has a total length of 350 km, which is set to connect the two most dynamic regions of the kingdom in about 2 hours 10 minutes instead of the hitherto 4 hours 45 minutes.

• The high-speed train is projected to run at 320km (198 miles) per hour.

• It slashes the Casablanca-Tangier journey to over half the normal time 2:10 from 4:45. The distance is 200km (124 miles).

• It is around twice the speed of the second fastest train. South Africa’s high-speed Gautrain linking Johannesburg’s international airport to the city’s financial district Sandton.

• It costs 22.9 billion dirhams ($2.4bn; £1.8bn).

• The train took seven years to be constructed.