NTA Metropolitan Mass Transit System has announced that the Tel Aviv Metropolitan light rail Green and Purple Lines will be operated by Egged Holdings Ltd. The tender is worth an estimated NIS 1.5 billion.
There were five other bids in the tender: Netiv Express and Superbus; Dan and Spanish company Marfina; Metropolin; Chinese company CCECC; and Shapir and Spanish company CAF.
Egged will operate the Tel Aviv light rail Green and Purple Lines for 10 years with an option to extend for an additional 10 years. Egged will be responsible for operating the trains, service center for the public, four underground stations on the Green Line, a command and control center, and more.
While NTA and Egged are celebrating tonight the award of the tender, industry sources say that government ministries opposed the way the tender was conducted, preferring the selection of two winners, one for each line. This is to avoid giving all the lines to one operator. The Red Line, which opened in August 2023, is already operated by Egged, which from time to time demands updates to the agreement with the state as well as budget additions to those already agreed on.
The government ministries felt that the introduction of several operators would create competition on operating standards and the possibility of the state transferring lines between the operators. Although payments to a bid winner other than Egged would have been initially higher, the opportunity for extortion by a sole operator would later decrease. According to government sources, these considerations outweigh the advantages of operating through a single company, with a uniform operating language.
"The biggest and most complex public transport tender ever conducted in Israel"
NTA said, "This is the biggest and most complex public transport tender ever conducted in Israel, which demonstrates the local and international market's trust in Israeli transport and in NTA, which managed the tender together with the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety."
NTA recently announced a delay in the operation of the lines, with the Purple Line to open in 2028 and the Green Line to open in two phases: the southern section from Rishon LeZion to south Tel Aviv in 2028, and the northern section from Tel Aviv to Herzliya in 2030. However, even the postponed dates, due to delays caused by the war, have been received with skepticism by the transport industry and are seen as over optimistic.
When completed the Green Line will extend over 39 kilometers and become one of the longest light rail lines in the world. The Green Line will connect Holon and Rishon LeZion in the south, via Tel Aviv to Herzliya in the north, with a branch line to Ramat HaHayal. The line will have 62 stations with four stations in a 4.5 kilometer underground section in Tel Aviv beneath Ibn Gbriol, Begin and Carlebach Streets at Arlozorov West, Rabin Square, Kaplan Street and Carlebach Street. These stations will be shared with the Red Line. When completed, the Green Line is projected to transport 275,000 passengers per day, with a peak frequency of four minutes between trains.
The Purple Line will pass through eight local authorities: Tel Aviv, Givatayim, Ramat Gan, Givat Shmuel, Kiryat Ono, Or Yehuda, Yehud-Monoson and Hevel Modiin, with 46 stations. When completed, the line is planned to transport 256,000 passengers per day, with a peak frequency of 4 minutes between trains, and a total of over 60 million passengers per year. In Tel Aviv, the line will pass along Allenby, Ben Yehuda and Arlozorov Streets, where work is currently underway ahead of laying tracks.
These lines will join the Red Line, which Egged also operates through Tevel.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 13, 2025.
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