As for the physical railway network, one railway line extends north from Tel Aviv along the coast, reaching Haifa, the Kerayot, and Nahariya. Another goes south to Beersheba with a new spur from the Be'er Sheva North Station to Dimona, which opened on December 17, 2005. There are future plans to extend the Beersheba-Dimona line to the Red Sea port of Eilat.
Another line goes south to Ashkelon with a spur to Rishon LeZion. This line was extended from Ashdod to Ashkelon in April 2005. Another line goes East to Kfar Saba with an extension to Kfar Saba Central (Sokolov) opening on September 2, 2006.
The service on the line to Jerusalem, which opened in 1892, was suspended in 1998 due to the poor state of the track. However, it has recently been rebuilt and upgraded. The section of this line to Bet Shemesh re-opened in September 2003, while the remainder of the upgraded line to Jerusalem opened in April 2005 together with the opening of the new Jerusalem Malha Station in Southern Jerusalem. In October 2004, a new line from Tel Aviv to the new Terminal 3 at Ben Gurion International Airport was opened. The line was extended to Modi'in in September 2007. Another branch will continue as a brand new high speed line currently being built to Jerusalem. This difficult to construct line will be electrified and make extensive use of long railway tunnels in order to make it possible for trains to achieve high speeds as they make their way from the coastal region to the mountainous Jerusalem area. In its first phase this line will terminate at a new underground station under construction underneath the Jerusalem Central Bus Station in Central Jerusalem. There are future plans to extend the line from the Jerusalem Central Bus Station so that it will connect with the (now upgraded) historic railroad that already reaches Southern Jerusalem. The ride on the new high-speed line from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem will take 28 minutes. The line is expected to be finished sometime around 2011.
Expansion plans
Initial plan (2003-2011)
Israel Railways' proposed network
Israel Railways traces its roots to the railway lines built by the Ottoman and British authorities. For many years the system lay under-utilized and in disrepair. However, in recent years Israel Railways has undertaken an ambitious multi-billion shekel expansion program (the sum invested between 2003 and 2011 is equivalent to about USD $6.5 billion). This program calls for large sums to be invested in reviving abandoned railroads, refurbishing and upgrading existing lines, and the construction of major brand new lines, as well as electrification of much of the system and the purchase of new rolling stock. Besides the aforementioned high-speed Tel Aviv to Modi'in/Jerusalem line, other new lines are currently under construction. One is the revival of the long-defunct Jezreel Valley line from Haifa to Bet She'an (originally a branch of the famed Hejaz railway) with a planned connection across the Jordan River into Jordan. A new line is being constructed from Tel Aviv to Ashdod via the southern Tel Aviv suburbs of Holon, Bat Yam, Rishon LeZion and Yavne (West). Another new line will be built to connect Ashkelon with Be'er Sheva via the southern development towns on the edge of the Negev desert. It was also planned to build a new line from Acre to Karmiel, although this has been moved to the follow-up plan. Also, the existing congested line to Beesheba is currently undergoing upgrades to high-speed, dual-track configuration.
Follow-up plan
The next expansion plan of Israel Railways, which will take place starting in 2012, calls for several expansions and additions:
* A new line from Acre to Karmiel (was originally planned to be completed in 2008, but met numerous obstacles and was postponed)
* A new line from Beersheba to Arad, via Nevatim and Hura. This line is planned to connect to a future line to Eilat and the Dead Sea.
* Reconstruction of the old eastern line, from Rosh HaAyin to eastern Hadera
* A new line from Rosh HaAyin to Ariel
* A new branch from the line to Kfar Saba, which will reach the Petah Tikva Central Bus Station, and connect to the Tel Aviv Light Rail
Topic: Israel Railways Extension (Read 2752 times)