Every time that the argument for and against railways reignites, the skeptics at the Ministry of Finance and in the media say that building railroads in outlying areas is delusional. It happened again last week, when Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved the NIS 51 billion roads and railways development plan.
The skeptics' ace card is the Beersheva-Dimona railway line, which was inaugurated in 2005. A few weeks ago, "Ha'aretz" columnist Nehemia Stressler called the line a "dismal failure", based on an internal Ministry of Finance document, which said that the line carries only 80 passengers a day.
However, here is something that the Ministry of Finance did not leak: during the discussions about opening the line, Israel Railways expressed concern about very light traffic on it, and therefore proposed making some changes in the line. These included a trunk line to the Bedouin town Aroar and the Nebatim Air Force Base. Israel Railways also proposed converting the existing cargo track to passenger traffic for hundreds of employees at the Rotem Industrial Zone, and to move the Dimona terminal into the town itself. The terminal is currently in an industrial zone two kilometers from the town, forcing residents to take a bus to the train.
All these proposals were torpedoed, mostly due to budgetary concerns. Ministry of Finance sources said that the decision to locate the Dimona train station outside of the town was unrelated to the ministry, and that it was unaware of Israel Railways' request to build a station at Aroar. The sources said that, in any case, the request was irrelevant to the line.
"What is important is not the failure of the Dimona line," said a Ministry of Finance source. "What's important is the lesson learned from that."
We agree, but we also ask: Who has to learn the lesson?
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 14, 2010
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