Israel Railways is taking advantage of the stoppage of all trains due to the coronavirus lockdown to speed up electrification work in Tel Aviv. In the coming few weeks, electrification work should be completed between Tel Aviv Haganah Station and Tel Aviv Savidor Central Station.
Completion of the electrification work on the new Jerusalem - Tel Aviv fast rail link between Yitzhak Navon Station in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv Savidor will mean that the Spanish contractor Semi, which is implementing the work, will be entitled to a payment of NIS 500 million.
Electrification of the rail network, which is predominantly diesel, is Israel Railways' flagship project. It will allow a substantial increase in the number of trains and passenger capacity while significantly reducing the level of pollution.
Israel Railways says that as well as completion of electrification work to Tel Aviv Savidor Central Station, work is also in progress to electrify the line further north towards Herzliya as well as on the Hasharon-Ra'anana loop.
Electrification work has also begun on the line to Ashkelon where the operations depot is located for the electric carriages ordered from Siemens. The current timetable for completing all the electrification work is 2025.
Israel Railways CEO Michael Maixner, who assumed his position in July 2019, has decided to open a new chapter in relations with Semi, which soured under former Israel Railways chairman Dan Harel. It has become clear to Maixner that Israel Railways shared a part of the responsibility for the failures that led to the many delays in the electrification project. Harel wanted to oust Semi from the project but failed to win support from the board of directors.
A new agreement has been signed with Semi, based on the original agreement, which includes milestone payments for completed work on a faster schedule. Semi will bring in more workers and outsource work to subcontractors.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 30, 2020
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