The reason was Tel Aviv Regional Planning and Building Board's decision to run the railway below ground in central Tel Aviv.
Sources inform ''Globes'' that the Ministry of Finance has suspended the Tel Aviv light railway Green Line project. Ministry of Finance deputy budget director Shaul Zemach notified the Ministry of Transport director general that all work on the project would be halted until a government review of the plan. All planning and activity by NTA Metropolitan Mass Transit System, whether direct or indirect, will also be stopped.
The reason for the Ministry of Finance's decision was last week's decision by the Tel Aviv Regional Planning and Building Board to run the railway track below ground in central Tel Aviv, between Levinsky St. and the Yarkon River. The Ministries of Finance and Transport, as well as the NTA's official position, all oppose this route. The Ministries of Finance and Transport understand that an underground route would add billions of shekels to the cost of the Green Line project.
The Ministry of Finance budget division is expected to change NTA's budget following the review of the Green Line project.
Tel Aviv municipal engineer Danny Kaizer told "Globes" in response, "It seems as if the Ministry of Finance is afraid to cancel the project without first fulfilling the procedures available to it…Tel Aviv's light railway, including the Green Line, is intended to save Israel's economy huge amounts of money. I think that the Ministry of Finance ought to reverse its decision."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on May 30, 2005