A railway tunnel between two continents? It sounds like science fiction, but it is not an exaggeration. Spain and Morocco have long discussed a possible 40-kilometer tunnel between the two countries, and the project was recently revived. Why is this tunnel so difficult to build? How long will it take, how much will it cost and when did the idea come about?

Nothing is impossible in railway tunnels

Over the past 150 years, humans have created many incredible things. In 1865, a 4-kilometer tunnel in the Alps was a technical marvel, and in 1880 it was incredibly difficult to build a 50-kilometer mountain railway. And yet they were made.

In 1980, many said that there would never be a Channel Tunnel, but it was done, and the Swiss finished a few years ago a tunnel through the Alps, from Bucharest to Ploiesti, at an average speed of 200 km. / hour

There is no shortage of projects in the future that would have seemed impossible 20 years ago, such as the tunnel between Germany and Denmark or the proposed rail link between Finland and Estonia.

Since so many incredible things have been built, it is possible that in the future work will begin on a fantastically complex, but rewarding and daring project.

People dreamed about this megatunnel 150 years ago

The first proposal for a tunnel under the Strait of Gibraltar was in 1869, when such a thing looked like trying to send a man to the moon using 150-year-old technology. Proposals for the construction of the tunnel also came from two engineers: Carlos Ibáñez de Ibero (1908) and Pedro Gevenois (1927). In 1956, there was the first proposal for a bridge (by Alfonso Peña Bef).

In the 1930s the geology was also studied in more detail and it was concluded that the rock beneath the Strait of Gibraltar was too hard to be penetrated by the machinery of more than 85 years ago.

One proposal was to have a precast concrete tunnel anchored by cables to the seabed, but this was not a viable and feasible solution and was out of the question.

Having seen in the 70s what the Japanese could do with tunnels, the Spanish were motivated to discuss the viability of building a link between Spain and Morocco, and the Ministry of Public Works (Ministerio español de Obras Públicas) in 1972 created a commission to study the problem and find a solution. Another bureaucratic step was taken in 1979, when Spain and Morocco signed a joint declaration in which they undertook to carry out joint studies on the viability of this mega-project.

Two organizations were created for this purpose: Secegsa (in Spain) and SNED (in Morocco). 40 years ago, Spain was just entering the path of democracy and starting to build modern infrastructure, and such a tunnel was not a priority. And Morocco was a much poorer country than it is now, and hardly anyone could have thought that in a few decades the North African country would have high-speed trains, supercar factories and one of the largest commercial ports in the Tangier region (where several billion dollars were invested).

The 1979 agreement was signed at the highest level by King Juan Carlos of Spain and King Hassan I of Morocco.

In the 80s, two solutions were discussed: either a suspension bridge (puente suspendido) or an underwater tunnel (túnel excavado), but closer to 1995, the option of a railway tunnel in the style of the Channel Tunnel began to be considered. weighed” heavier.

The suspension bridge would have piers more than 300 meters high, and in some places even higher, and this would mean the highest bridge in the world, 14 km long, in a strong wind channel and currents that deserve attention. There was no question about the bridge, the tunnel remained “on the record”.

Things get serious, but then the “frost” comes.

The geology of various points was studied and experimental drilling was started in Spain (Bologna well and Tarifa gallery) and in Morocco (Malabat shafts).

Soundings were carried out to a depth of over 300m, the rocks were analyzed and between 1996 and 2005 there was much debate about the commercial viability of such a tunnel, how many passengers could use it and what goods the trains could carry.

In 2004, it was hoped that work would start in 2008 or 2009 and that it would cost between 3 and 10 billion euros.

In 2006, a Swiss company called Lombardi Engineering was contracted to create a “project” of what the design of such a tunnel would look like compared to a perfect example, the Channel Rail Tunnel (La Mancha, as the Spanish say). .

The conclusion was that, because of the depth of the strait and the geology, a Europe-Africa tunnel would be much more difficult to build than a tunnel between France and Great Britain.

The big problem is that there is a seismic fault in the area, the Azores-Gibraltar Fault.

The project was “frozen” in 2009 due to the financial crisis, as well as due to strained political relations between European and North African states.

The idea returns – Read more

Talks resumed 14 years later, in 2023, when a memorandum of understanding was signed on what the Spanish say is “tunel bajo el estrecho de Gibraltar”.

It must be said that Spain and Morocco had serious diplomatic differences regarding refugees in the border area, as well as regarding the territory of the Western Sahara, but these differences were resolved and the two countries were able to “sit down at the table. table” for discussing joint projects.

Spain’s transport minister said the project, which is of strategic importance, deserved a “push” and it was decided to draw up a strategy on what needs to be done over the next three years.

What can the tunnel look like? One project indicates 39 km, of which 28 km is on the seabed, and will start from Punta Paloma (Tarifa area, Spain) and Malabat (Gulf of Tangiers, Morocco). It will be at most 300 meters on the sea floor and will be a tunnel for passenger trains as well as freight trains.

It will be close to three ports: Algeciras, Tangier and Tangier Med, the latter being the port from which Dacia cars produced in Morocco are exported.

How much would such a tunnel cost? According to modest estimates, we are talking about 6 billion euros, but if this underwater tunnel is dug, the total cost will definitely exceed 10 billion euros, and the construction time will last more than ten years.

In terms of rail transport, the two countries are also very different: Morocco has a TGV line, which it says is the cheapest such line in the world, and plans to build another 1,300 km of high-speed lines.

In 2018, Morocco became the first country in Africa to launch high-speed trains. On the 363 km between Tangier and Casablanca, TGV trains take 2 hours 10 minutes, compared to 4 hours 45 minutes for regular trains. In July 2018, the test train accelerated to a record speed of 357 km/h, and the first passenger trains departed on November 26, 2018.

The Moroccans say they have built the cheapest TGV, costing less than €10 million/km. 2 billion euros were shared between France (51%) and Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (49%). 12 frames were purchased from Alstom and the train was named Al Boraq after the winged horse from Islamic mythology.

Spain not only has the largest network of high-speed train lines in Europe, but has also developed them in the south, where trains reach speeds of 220 km/h between Malaga and Algeciras. Currently, the strait can be crossed by Algeciras-Tangier or Tarifa-Tangier ferry, but with any luck, after 2040 the distance can be covered by train.

Sources: El Pais, Railway Gazette International, BBC, International Railway Journal, railway-technology.com, inspain.news, moroccoworldnews.com.

Photo source: Dreamstime.com