Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero today said that his government was committed to building a high-speed train line to North Africa in a tunnel under the Strait of Gibraltar.
Mr Zapatero, who spoke after a meeting with Moroccan Prime Minister Driss Jettou in Rabat, Morocco, said a tunnel would help speed development on the African side of the Mediterranean.
“The Spanish government has firmly decided to work for the tunnel,” Mr Zapatero said, without providing specifics on when a decision could be taken or when the tunnel could be built.
The tunnel would link the Moroccan city of Tangier to the Spanish city of Tarifa, the excavation of a tunnel joining Europe and Africa deep below the Strait of Gibraltar could start as early as next year after Spain and Morocco commissioned preliminary engineering studies.
Veteran Swiss tunnel engineer Giovanni Lombardi has been called in by the governments of both countries to draw up a project outlining how work could proceed towards creating the only direct physical link between the two continents.
Exploratory tunnelling could start after his report, which will be based on recent detailed studies of the geological patterns under the strait, is handed in next year. "We are just beginning the work, but I would say this is more difficult than the Channel tunnel," said Mr Lombardi
Thanks to the Guardian and Irish examiner
1 comment:
SPAIN - MORROCO TUNNEL+ SMUNNEL.
This sounds like a brilliant idea with short term prosperity for all the labourers needed but once it is open there will be many ship related jobs lost.
It will be interesting to see how the Spanish and Morrocans manage to budget and what there costs will be compared to the Chunnel.
Post a Comment