Modi'in Railway To Open Early

[admin]

This is a spur of the new express line to Jerusalem by way of Ben-Gurion Airport.

Modi'in railway to open five months ahead of schedule
By SYBIL EHRLICH

The railway to Modi'in is to open at the end of July 2007, several months ahead of schedule.

Work is progressing so rapidly, according to Opher Linchevski, CEO of Israel Railways, that IR has decided to open the Pa'atei Modi'in station in July, rather than at the end of 2007 as originally planned.

Pa'atei Modi'in station is on the outskirts of the city and close to the Yishpro shopping and entertainment mall.

The station in the center of Modi'in will open at the end of 2007, as originally planned.

The project consists of 19 kilometers of double track between Ben-Gurion Airport and the center of Modi'in, with two stations - Pa'atei Modi'in and Modi'in Central, at a total cost of about NIS 1.5 billion. Travel time from Pa'atei Modi'in to Tel Aviv will be 17 minutes.

It is expected that the opening of the line will considerably reduce traffic jams between Modi'in and Tel Aviv. In the morning rush hour, the journey by car can take up to an hour and a half.

Because the line is completely new, it was planned in accordance with the most modern standards, and has no level crossings.

The Pa'atei Modi'in station already has 312 parking spaces, and there are plans to extend the parking lot to accommodate an additional 300 vehicles.

The line to Modi'in is the first part of the high-speed line to Jerusalem, which is expected to open in its entirety in 2011 with a journey time from Tel Aviv to the capital of 28 minutes, and 17 minutes from Jerusalem to Modi'in.

[takebackourtemple]

   Airports make great hubs and end points for railroads. In the US, most states fight for long distance rail service. Service which is unreliable and always late. Long distance routes cost AMTRAK billions of dollars. If these lines were broken up into shorter routes that connected airports to cities, they would be much more efficient. I'm glad to hear that they are doing things right in Israel.

[takebackourtemple]

http://www.israrail.org.il/english/

Here is a map of the Israeli railroad system. If anyone has a better maps which is superimposed over one of the land, please let me know?