"A rare opportunity has now arisen for investment in the Ra’anana depot site, the first station that will be opened in the Sharon region," runs an advertisement by a company offering plots of land next to the Metro depot in Ra’anana.
The advertisement can be seen as confirmation that more and more players in the market see the Metro station as an established fact that is getting underway. On the other hand, there are those who are skeptical about the chances of the project being realized, given the hole in the state budget, the frequent postponements and delays, and the absence of any signs of progress on the ground.
There are, however, several indications that the project really is going ahead, and that the excavation machines will shortly make their appearance.
The Metro is the largest infrastructure development ever planned in Israel. It consists of three underground railway lines passing beneath 24 local authorities in Gush Dan, with over 100 stations. Its cost is estimated at NIS 180 billion. It will link with the light rail system currently under construction, which consists of the Red Line, which opened in 2023, and the Green and Purple lines due to open in 2028-2030. The Metro is supposed to become operational gradually, between 2035 and 2024, although skepticism about the timetable is certainly justified.
So what’s happening on the ground?
1. Land requisitions
Last week, a scene of historic dimensions took place when huge fences were erected in the Segula neighborhood of Petah Tikva, where the train sheds for the Metro’s M2 line will be constructed. The land was seized after a compulsory purchase procedure. The owners of the land will shortly receive payment notices.
Adv. Inbal Kanka, VP Assets at NTA-Metropolitan Mass Transit Ltd., which is managing the project, told "Globes" last week, "I presume that there will be lawsuits in Segula and Rishonim, where land is changing hands at crazy prices because people hope that one day it will be marketable, but there are no such plans. The court has said, rightly, that the state does not have to pay compensation in line with market transactions, since these are speculative. In such cases, if someone thinks that they deserve thousands of shekels per meter and not tens, they can sue."
Compulsory purchases of homes
Up to now, compulsory purchase notices have mainly been sent outside of city centers, and have concerned commercial and industrial properties. Now, the notices are reaching city centers, and residential properties, as well. Last month, NTA sent out compulsory purchase notices for 50 housing units and 45 stores in the Magen David Square area in the heart of Tel Aviv. Buildings in Allenby Street, King George Street, Bethlehem Street, Elu Metsiot Lane, and other streets, will be demolished to make way for the Metro. Stations will be constructed in Nes Lagoyim Street and Shlabim Street, where industrial buildings and twenty housing units will be compulsorily purchased. 22 housing units and also public buildings will be compulsorily purchased in Hazon Ish Street and Kahaneman Street in Bnei Brak.
Kanka says that payment notices will shortly start to be sent to many property owners, such that the market will begin to feel the extent of the compulsory purchases. In total, compensation for compulsory purchases will amount to some NIS 10 billion, for about 200,000 orders covering 11,000 dunams. 400 housing units are slated for demolition.
3. Taxation comes into force
The higher betterment levy along the Metro routes being imposed to help pay for the project was approved in the first part of the Metro Law that was passed in 2022 and came into force in 2023. It covers building plans deposited from that year on.
The law states that the determining date for the purposes of the tax is after approval of the plan, and so in the coming year taxes arising from the Metro will start to flow to the state. They could establish the project as a complete fait accompli.
4. Regulation and structure
As far as regulation and planning are concerned, the Metro is already a fait accompli. The statutory planning is complete, and the three lines have been approved by the government despite the many objections raised that put politicians under pressure.
In addition, the Metro Law has been passed, granting powers to the company executing the project, NTA, to remove obstacles. NTA itself is undergoing massive restructuring. VPs have been appointed, each of whom is responsible for one of the Metro lines, as well as a deputy CEO who is supposed to coordinate the work.
This week, after a long delay, Uzi Tzhaki was appointed head of the Metro Authority, the government body meant to lead the project and to which NTA is subordinate. Itzhaki was formerly chairperson of the Israel Ports Company.
Another obstacle that has been removed is the opposition of Minister of Transport Miri Regev to the project unless railway lines to Kiryat Shemona and Eilat are budgeted. After budgets were allocated to the planning of the lines, she became a supporter of the project, and publicly boasts about it.
5. Publication of tenders
In the coming months, NTA will start preparing for clearing the ground in various areas, among them the depot locations in Rishonim and Segula. In the third quarter of next year, tenders are due to be published for carrying out the works dubbed "Infra 1", including excavating the double tunnels, each 150 kilometers in length, and preparing reinforced concrete boxes for more than 100 stations. These works will be carried out gradually, but if the tenders are to go out on time, NTA has a great deal of work to complete.
"Globes" recently reported that the company had got into a dispute with the National Planning Committee over the number of exits from the stations. NTA planned one exit for a large proportion of the stations, but the National Planning Committee is demanding more, in a way that is liable to delay planning, and the publication of the tenders.
An industry source told "Globes": "The government has to make clear to NTA that there are no more excuses. If after all the changes they don’t succeed in advancing the project on a fast schedule, it will be better to transfer it to another company or to split it between several companies," indicating that the grace period is over, and the time has now come for results.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 27, 2025.
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