The sparring between the Ministry of Finance Budget Division and the Prime Minister's Office over the Israel Railways development plan has resumed following reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will decide the plan's fate in a few days. Sources inform ''Globes'' that the ministry's Budget Director Udi Nissan has prepared a report for Minister of Finance Yuval Steinitz aimed at derailing the plan.
The report presents the failure of the Beersheva-Dimona line as proof that railways are not a suitable nationwide mass transport solution for Israel. The route, which was supposed to carry 866,000 passengers a year, carried just 22,000 because the train stations are far from the towns' centers.
The Ministry of Finance says that the proposed Acre-Carmiel and Jezreel Valley lines will repeat this failure. The two lines will cost NIS 6 billion to build.
A senior Budget Department official told "Globes", "This plan is not based on measurable targets or defined goals. It's haphazard. No forecasts have been examined on how the project will affect, among other things, land use, travel habits, and the environment. Transport plans of this size should include prior reviews and thorough staff work. Someone took a map, drew a few lines, and prepared a presentation."
The Prime Minister's Office is livid at the official's comment, and said in response, "The Ministry of Finance on principle opposes railways. Historically, that's its biggest failure, because railways, as system, are a huge success. The Ministry of Finance always opposes such initiatives; it opposed the Ayalon Highway and Road 6, for example."
As for the Beersheva-Dimona line, the Prime Minister's Office admits that its problematic, but, "Just because one tile is cracked doesn’t mean that the whole floor is uneven."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 11, 2010
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