We spent a weekend in Fes/Fez. The map above shows our return trip, when we were in first class with nice air conditioning. The trip Friday was in second class, with no air conditioning, although we read that both classes are supposed to have air conditioning, an it is equally reliable. We missed the cool air, since temperatures have been in the 90's this past week, proof that climate change is fake news (no, wait, not the case).
Between Fes and Meknes, note the speeds near 150 km/hr, while traversing the flat plain with fertile agricultural fields and most of Morocco's vineyards (which we did not see from the train). After a stop at Meknes, the train turns northwest, and trundles along at much lower speeds, since it drops off the high ground, and makes a number of sharp turns. Where it hits the flat coastal plain and turns west to Kenitra on the coast and the next stop, the speed picks up. After the stop on Kenitra, it's high speed again until getting to the Sale-Rabat suburbs. We sat on the bridge between them, where it looked like they are single tracking, probably to work on the new TVG lines coming soon.
The Fes station looks like it has just had a major overhaul. It cannot be for the upcoming TVG, since the steep climb up to Meknes won't support the higher speeds. But the station, like the one as Casa Port, shows what train travel will be like when the work is finished.
Then it was home to Rabat, where the station looks like a construction zone. This was the scene on our first train trip two weeks ago, and already it looked quite a bit different today, and for the first time in three Sundays, there was no work underway this afternoon.
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