The first test ride by Jerusalem's light rail took place late last night. Two carriages were towed from the rail yard to the track, where they travelled for two kilometers under their own power from French Hill in northern Jerusalem.
The section is part of the light rail's Red Line, the first light railway line in Israel. The running time was conducted simultaneously with the railway construction work, and is the final stage before the commercial launch, scheduled for April 2011. The latest launch date was set earlier this week by the arbitrators in the dispute between railway franchisee CityPass and the Jerusalem Municipality and the government.
The arbitrators, Adv. Ram Caspi and Boaz Okon set the date on the basis of an engineer's expert opinion.
During the test run stage, 46 carriages and 1,000 different systems will be tested on about 28 kilometers of track (two tracks of 13.8 kilometers each). The year-long running phase will test the carriages, which will make runs along a limited stretch of track each time between the French Hill Junction and Shmuel Hatzadik Junction along Municipal Road 1.
Three months after the first run, tests will begin on other sections of the line. When the second stage is completed, and after all the carriages and systems have been tested on each of the sections in the test, the final stage will begin: a 45-day test run. When this is completed the light railway will begin service.
CityPass today asked Jerusalem's residents to be alert to the conduct and safety rules in the light railway areas, in order to avoid accidents.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 25, 2010
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