Israel Railways recorded 17% growth in passenger traffic in 2005 to 26.6 million. It reported today that 30% of passengers were soldiers.
Heaviest traffic was on the Tel Aviv-Haifa line - 5.5 million passengers, 9% more than in 2004. The number of passengers on the Tel Aviv -Ashkelon line rose by 18% to 4.16 million, and 1.1 million passengers traveled on the Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion Airport line.
The number of passengers on the Tel Aviv-Netanya line rose by 17 % to 2.6 million; by 11% to 2.05 million on the Tel Aviv-Haifa-Nahariya line; by 18% to 3.14 million on the Tel Aviv-Nahariya line rose; and by 5% to 1.37 million on the Haifa-Ashkelon line.
Israel Railways carried 2.35 million passengers in December 2005, an increase of 3.1%, compared with December 2004. Daily passenger traffic averaged 95,247, an increase of 7%, compared with December 2004.
Israel Railways chairman Moshe Leon said Israel Railways attributed great importance to improving service. He said that, paralleling an improvement in safety, Israel Railways was continuing its massive investment in developing a national rail network. He said the goal was to carry 60 million passengers a year at the end of the five-year plan in 2010.
Israel Railways general manager Ofer Linchevski said Israel Railways would meet high demand in 2006 by adding carriages and laying new tracks.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on January 16, 2006