FCC

Israel Considers Expanding Rail Network by 800km by 2040

2023-07-07

The Israeli government is considering multiple projects to expand the country's 1200km rail network and maybe to neighboring nations, which would entail the construction of about 800km of new lines by 2040, as well as initiatives to improve capacity. The entire network is also being electrified.

Among the projects under discussion are:

A new station at Anava at the intersection of the lines to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem and Modi'in, which will also service the new line under construction via Be'er Yaakov to Rishon Lezion, which will act as a bypass for all traffic from Jerusalem and Modi'in to cities and ports south of Tel Aviv.

An additional set of lines running north-south through Tel Aviv to nearly double train frequency. It is also intended to install ATO through Tel Aviv to boost reliability and operating efficiency so that trains can operate automatically.

The Valley line is a new 125-kilometer double-track line that runs parallel to and west of Highway 6 from Kiryat Gat to beyond Yokne'am east of Afula. A two-stage subterranean extension of the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem A1 link from Jerusalem Navon station to Zion Square and the Oid City in the Talpi'yot neighborhood. Stage 2 of the project will see the line extended into Gush Etzion, a residential neighborhood south of Jerusalem with a population of roughly 40,000 people.

A 50-kilometer expansion of the Haifa-Carmiel line that runs east to Zefat and then north to Qiryat Shemona, with a 25-kilometer branch line heading southeast to Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee.

An expansion of the Afula line into Jordan, mostly for freight but with the prospect of serving Hajj pilgrims.

A new north-south double-track line from Nazareth and Afula to Be'er Sheva erected in the median strip of a four-lane highway that would become Israel's spine. The railway would be approximately 175 kilometers long, with 22 stations.

Two new Be'er Sheva and Ofakim lines will service Israeli Defense Forces facilities in the Negev.

A 250-kilometer freight line stretching south from the Mediterranean port of Ashdod to Eilat on the Gulf of Aqaba.

A route to Saudi Arabia that would need passing through Jordan. This might be accomplished by extending the proposed line from Eilat to Neom, a projected new city in northwestern Saudi Arabia.

Finally, a new, possibly high-speed line from Tel Aviv to Cairo is envisaged, crossing the Sinai desert in Egypt to the north.