French President Emmanuel Macron and Morocco's King Mohammed VI inaugurated Africa's first high-speed train line on Thursday.

These high-speed trains are flashing along the Atlantic coast of Morocco.

The French-made double-decker TGVs are being tested today ahead of the launch of a flagship new line connecting Tangier with Morocco's economic capital Casablanca in November.

The new trains are made by manufacturer Alstom and can reach speeds of 200 miles per hour. They will cut the journey time between the two cities by more than half -- to just over two hours. This is double the speed of South Africa's Gautrain, launched in 2012, which falls short of the criteria for high-speed rail.

The $2 billion project has been in development for a decade, funded by the governments of Morocco, France, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE.

King Mohammed VI and the Moroccan government expect the trains to deliver wealth and prestige for the country. But opponents claim they are an expensive folly. (CNN)