Israel Railways has announced that it will close three of its four main Tel Aviv stations for eight days in order to carry out infrastructure work, as it prepares for operation of the new fast rail link between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in two years' time. The closure of the stations will add to the already severe congestion on roads in the Tel Aviv area caused by construction of the Tel Aviv Light Rail.
From Monday, September 19 until Tuesday September 27 at 05:00, the University, Savidor Central, and Hashalom stations will be closed. The works had been planned for some time, but Israel Railways made no public announcement until today, perhaps because of the storm raised by the controversy over its infrastructure work on Saturdays and a desire to maintain a low profile.
The number of trains will be reduced and there will be changes to train routes. Trains from south of Tel Aviv will operate only to the Tel Aviv Hahaganah station. Suburban trains from Binyamina will operate to/from Herzliya. There will be no Tel Aviv-Haifa express trains. Nahariya-Ben Gurion Airport night trains will also operate to/from Herzliya. Trains on the Herzliya-Jerusalem (Malha) line will operate between Beit Shemesh and Lod only.
The fast Tel Aviv-Jerusalem line will be Israel Railways' first electric line.
A special line bypassing Tel Aviv will be operated between Nahariya and Beersheva during the period that the infrastructure work is carried out, and there will also be trains between Binyamina and Hod Hasharon. There will be special bus services to replace trains that will not run, and existing bus services will run more frequently.
Israel Railways CEO Boaz Tsafrir said, "The work on constructing the rapid train line from Herzliya to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem are reaching the final stages. In order to prepare the stations and the tracks to take the new electric trains in 2018, during the coming months we will carry out complex infrastructure work at the Tel Aviv and Herzliya stations that make it necessary to halt rail traffic for a few days. We are aware of the inconvenience caused by these works, and are acting together with the Ministry of Transport to provide travel alternatives."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 11, 2016
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