Riding the trains

The trains in Morocco were great. Casablanca has two train stations that can take you to all the large towns in the country, and many of the small ones as well. We took them twice; once to Marrakesh which was a 3-hour journey each way, and once to Rabat, the capital city, which took about an hour each direction. Once reaching each of the cities, it was easy to hail a Petit Taxi to get to the final destination.

We bought First Class tickets which were relatively inexpensive and allowed us to spread out a little and have a comfortable trip. The porters also came by with drinks and snacks for sale.

This was my only opportunity to view the countryside, which was quite interesting. Although I saw more poverty, I also saw beautiful farms, flocks of sheep, and a more rural lifestyle. I wondered how some of the people made a living since many didn't seem to live near any town. As in most developing countries, though, the young rural people are flocking to the urban areas. This is very apparent when you see all the poor people outside of Casablanca.

It made me wonder why the U.S. doesn't have convenient high-speed rail service between cities. If a country like Morocco (which has decent highways) can still offer such wonderful rail service, why can't we do it? Imagine taking a train to Chattanooga in one hour. Or being able to zip down to Savannah or Hilton Head in three hours on a comfortable train. Although it wouldn't be as cheap as the trains in Morocco, I'm sure they would be popular.