The idea for a rail tunnel connecting Europe and Africa has been circulating for decades, but its realisation has often been questioned. However, Spain has now launched a new feasibility study for a 60-kilometre underwater railway across the Strait of Gibraltar to Morocco. Will this be the time for such a project to come to life?
The study will be carried out by Spanish state-owned engineering firm INECO on behalf of SECEGSA, the company set up specifically for this project. The Spanish government is allocating a little over 1,63 million euros for the study, which has a duration of 36 months with an option to extend it to 48.
This feasibility study was originally conceived in August 2021, with an initial budget of 665,985 euros. Said budget was increased to a little less than 2,44 million euros in June 2023 and has now been set to 1,63 million euros. The changes in budgets are due to the elimination or modification of certain actions included in the study.
Four sub-studies
INECO will thus have to provide information on a wide range of issues regarding a possible rail connection between Spain and Morocco. For example, the state-owned entity will have to analyse the “geomechanical behaviour of the land to be excavated” and what type or types of tunnel-boring machines will be needed. Furthermore, the rest of the feasibility study will be divided into four ‘sub-studies’.
First, a demand study, which will focus on where the tunnel connects to Spain (Algeciras or Cadiz) and freight traffic volumes, including comparisons with other similar international rail tunnels. Secondly, a functional study, which shall provide two layout alternatives, define the maximum capacity of the tunnel and what kind of trains will run through it. “A single type of freight train will be considered”, depending on the maximum length and towable load determined by the study.
The third component of this feasibility study is the analysis of the two layouts alternatives proposed for the tunnel access locations in Spain. The so-called east alternative would see the tunnel ending in Algeciras and be connected to the Algeciras-Bobadilla line while the west alternative would have the tunnel re-emerging near the coast of Tarifa and connect to the Cadiz-Seville railway. The last of the four sub-studies will include a cost-benefit analysis, including the issue of tariffs.
Criticism
Such a mastodontic project inevitably brings some controversies. One relates to the urgency (or lack thereof) for this initiative. For example, some argue that solving the current migratory crisis between Spain and Morocco should be higher in the priority list than the construction of a rail tunnel connecting the two countries. However, Spain is pushing to have the infrastructure ready for 2030, a very ambitious deadline to say the least, due to the World Cup, which will take place that year between Spain, Portugal and Morocco.
The other main point of criticism for this project is strictly rail related. According to the SECEGSA’s document, the rail tunnel between Spain and Morocco shall be built in standard gauge. However, the rail network in Spain is still largely equipped with the wider Iberian gauge, including the Algeciras-Bobadilla and Cadiz-Seville lines. The parties involved claim that this will not be a problem as, by the time the tunnel would be ready, both those lines would be in standard gauge. However, it remains to be seen whether this will still be true in five years.