New Undersea Rail Link Between Morocco and Spain

A submarine rail link between Morocco and Spain may be back on the cards after 30 years, following a meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) held in Geneva.

African and European support for the plan, which would extend from Punta Paloma in southern Spain to Punta Malabata east of Tangiers, sees the project as an economic and social boon for both countries.

While the plans are a long way from implementation, a draft resolution came from the meeting calling for Executive Secretaries of the Economic Commissions for Africa and Europe to begin feasibility studies. Construction could be completed by 2025.

Various projects to link Spain and Morocco with tunnels under the Gibraltar Strait have been planned over the years, but geological studies have found that the rock under the Strait is extremely hard. The current proposed route is not the shortest, but is said to be the most shallow.

Submarine rail projects have been successful around the world. The longest and deepest operational rail tunnel in the world is currently the Seikan Tunnel, beneath the Tsugaru Strait, although the Channel Tunnel between the UK and France has the longer undersea portion.

The Marmaray Tunnel under the Bosporus Strait is expected to open in October 2013.