The Metro, Israel's biggest-ever national project, requires huge capital and adherence to schedules to build an underground railway network spanning 24 local authorities in the Tel Aviv metropolitan region, with over 100 stations. Now, a dispute over the number of entrances and exits at stations could delay the project.
The three Metro lines are scheduled to begin operating gradually between 2034 and 2040. According to the presentation by the NTA Metropolitan Mass Transit System made to contractors last December, in 2025 NTA will begin expropriating land and property and start readying land and clearing infrastructure in preparation for the start of excavations, and will engage in acoustic shielding of residential apartments adjacent to the work centers.
In 2026, NTA is due to publish the tenders for the Infra 1 phase, which includes digging tunnels and stations, and a year later it is due to publish tenders for the the Infra 2 phase, which includes installation of systems, ordering equipment and trial runs. In 2028, according to the schedule, excavation work in the field will begin.
However, there is concern that tenders due to be published next year will be delayed. This is because the Israel Planning Administration set that there will be 2-5 exits from each Metro station, but NTA interpreted this as a maximum guideline, and has planned one exit at many stations. The issue was brought to the National Infrastructure Committee, which was surprised to see NTA's planning, and ordered it to re-plan a large part of the stations again, so that there would be more exits and entrances from them, except where there is an engineering problem to do so.
NTA believes that a single exit will lead to more efficient passage flow, with left complications underground and less damage to urban life above ground. The Israel Planning Administration refuses to accept this approach. As part of the statutory planning, many stations had multiple entrances and exits, with the intention of expanding the positive impact of metro stations on the urban environment. Industry sources call the planning a sham, while others play it down as a professional dispute.
Many more challenges
In any case, the detailed planning stages of the three lines are just one challenge among many that could affect the project's schedules and lead to delays. The Metro Law, which was passed after great delay, is supposed to create planning certainty for the project, give it priority and remove regulations, but from experience gained in previous projects, the lack of coordination between government agencies - and certainly with those outside it, such as communications companies - creates gaps in planning and budget estimates, as well as In the timetables.
The Ministries of Finance and Transport have also struggled for over two years to agree on a director of the Metro Authority - the government body appointed to remove obstacles for the project, which has therefore not yet been established. Only next month will a new search committee convene for the director of the authority, after the previous process that dragged on for years saw the leading candidates withdraw from the race.
In addition, according to the plan, NTA will have to clear 40 million cubic meters of excess landfill from the city center, and build an independent power plant to supply electricity to the Metro. NTA will have to hire a huge number of foreign engineers and workers, while Israel remains an unattractive destination due to the war. It will have to build a huge logistics centers, as well as encourage Israeli factories to produce segments in the form of arched concrete slabs to line the tunnels, from which it will require1.25 million units.
In parallel with having to build the underground transport system, which will carry two million passengers a day, the financing model is being established. Alongside 50% funding from the state budget, 25% will also come from metropolitan funding through taxation and 25% from value enhancement as a result of real estate improvements that will need to grow in tandem with the construction of the project. The NTA will need to encourage, and perhaps establish, a real estate management company that will handle construction above the stations, train depots and transport hubs that will be built.
Mitigation of consequences of the war
The estimated annual economic benefit from the Metro is NIS 25-30 billion, and these are attributed to improved travel times, savings on vehicle maintenance and parking, and broader implications such as densification between business centers, which creates efficiency, land savings and urban improvement.
From the material transferred to the contractors, it appears that the Ministry of Finance sees the project as one of the tools for mitigating the heavy economic consequences of the war, which include an increase of NIS 195 billion in the 2023-2024 deficit, alongside a steady increase of NIS 20 billion in the defense budget and a negative growth forecast.
The Israel Planning Administration said, "The Administration is working in cooperation with the NTA to ensure optimal planning of the Metro stations, so that the stations that are built to enable the best service for passengers. As part of this, coordination meetings are held between the Planning Administration and the NTA, in which all aspects of each station are examined."
NTA said, "As in any planning process, and certainly as complex as planning the Metro network, several rounds of mitigation are held between the Israel Planning Administration and the planning director, and the same is true regarding the number of entrances in stations. The discussions are held in full cooperation, with the aim of optimizing and streamlining the service for passengers."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 24, 2025.
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