After many delays Minister of Transport Miri Regev announced last month that the Tel Aviv light rail would begin operating on Independence Day (April 26). However, sources familiar with the project have told "Globes" that this launch date is in serious doubt and that in their assessment the light rail Red Line will begin operations in May, and even then only partially.
Work on the light rail Red Line began in 2015 and operations were scheduled to start at the end of 2021. The launch date was postponed until November 2022 and then March 2022 and now looks unlikely to start before May.
"Globes" also understands that following the latest postponement, NTA Metropolitan Mass Transit System Ltd. will sign an additional agreement with Tevel, which will operate the Red Line, costing NIS 200 million over the next decade, and the Chinese systems contractor, costing NIS 130 million. Sources in the industry say that some of the extra financial demands are justified because of the delays but that pressure by NTA to open the line as soon as possible have resulted in the contractors toughening their demands over money.
Changes in budget before the completion of major infrastructure projects are common but with the Red Line, which has been delayed time and time again, new agreements have already been signed in the past and the concern is that these latest agreements will not be the last.
Cost of delays: Tens of millions of shekels per month
Sources familiar with the project estimate that the cost in delays for opening the Red Line is NIS 30-50 million per month. As there are many companies involved in the project, each delay requires compensating contractors and those working on the project including night work and foreign workers needing to extend their stay in Israel.
According to sources in the industry, a substantial part of the delays have been caused by defects discovered in Alstom's signaling system and its integration into the light rail's other systems.
But this is not the only reason for the delays. For example, the State Comptroller's report in November 2022, highlighted other factors causing postponement of the launch at the end of 2021, when the supervising company warned about a range of problems, although the State Comptroller's report did not detail those problems.
CRTG insists that it is not to blame for these delays. Over the most recent postponements the Chinese company is demanding extra money because of the delays and additional items that did not appear in the tenders and have been required at later stages by Israeli subcontractors who were being asked to speed up the works at the request of the NTA, including night work, alongside Chinese workers extending their stay in Israel.
NTA said, "NTA is currently discussing the financial needs filed by Tevel for starting operations and CRTG as part of its launch agreement, due to changes that have taken place in works procedures. This is a common procedure in projects of this type that is taken into account in the budget."
Red Line will begin partial operations
In two weeks, NTA will transfer the light rail Red Line project to its operator Tevel so that in can begin running-in trials before the start of operations.
According to plans, in the first stage there will be 10 trains per hour in each direction on the Red Line's busiest section from the Elifelet underground station in Tel Aviv to Petah Tikva. The Red Line will encompass three services: R1 from Petah Tikva along the full line to Bat Yam; R2 from Kiryat Arie to Bat Yam (which won't operate in the first stage); and R3 from Kiryat Arie to Elifelet.
In the first stage there will be there will be six trains pewr hour on the R1 line between Petah Tikva and Bat Yam, and four more trains an hour on R3. In other words there will be a train every six minutes on the underground section of the line. Journey time on the entire route from Petah Tikva to Bat Yam will take an estimate 90 minutes, appreciably longer than the 60 minute target of the project.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 16, 2023.
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