Israel_Railways

Israel Railways

Israel Railways

State-owned Israeli railway company

Israel Railways Ltd. (Hebrew: רַכֶּבֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל, Rakevet Yisra'el) is the state-owned principal railway company responsible for all inter-city, commuter, and freight rail transport in Israel. Israel Railways network consists of 1,138 kilometers (707 mi) of track. All its lines are standard gauge. The network is centered in Israel's densely populated coastal plain, from which lines radiate out in many directions. In 2018, Israel Railways carried 68 million passengers.

Quick Facts Company type, Industry ...
For mass transit in Gush Dan (Tel Aviv metropolitan area), see Tel Aviv Light Rail and Tel Aviv Metro.
Quick Facts Overview, Stations called at ...

Unlike road vehicles and city trams, Israeli heavy rail trains run on the left hand tracks, matching neighboring Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries, whose formerly connected rail networks were constructed by British engineers.

Until 1980, the company's head office was located at Haifa Center HaShmona railway station. Tzvi Tzafriri, the general manager of Israel Railways, decided to move the head office to Tel Aviv Savidor Central Railway Station. In 2017, the company's head office was moved to a new campus built on the grounds of the Lod railway station.

Stations

There are 66 stations on the Israel Railways network, with almost all of the stations being accessible to disabled persons, with public announcement and passenger information systems, vending machines and parking.

Bicycle policy

Bicycles are permitted on trains in designated coaches.

Israel Railways encourages people to use bicycles by building a double-deck parking for bicycles in every railway station and by allowing people to take bicycles with them on trains to minimise the need for private cars.

Smoking

In Israel, smoking is prohibited in public enclosed places and in commercial areas. Although smoking in railway stations is allowed in designated areas, the sale of tobacco from automated vending machines is prohibited.

List of stations

Israel Railways Route Map
Legend
Bus interchange Nahariya
Karmiel
Bus interchange Acre
Ahihud
Kiryat Motzkin
Kiryat Haim
Hutzot HaMifratz
Yokneam/Kfar Yehoshua
Bus interchange HaMifratz Central
Migdal HaEmek–
Kfar Baruch
Haifa Center HaShmona
Afula
Haifa Bat Galim
Beit She'an
Bus interchange Haifa Hof HaCarmel
Atlit
Binyamina
Caesarea-Pardes Hanna
Hadera West
Netanya
Netanya Sapir
Beit Yehoshua
Hod Hasharon Sokolov
Ra'anana South
Kfar Saba – Nordau
Ra'anana West
Rosh HaAyin Tzafon
Herzliya
Petah Tikva Segula
Bnei Brak
Petah Tikva Kiryat Arye
Tel Aviv University
Bus interchange Tel Aviv Savidor Central
Tel Aviv HaShalom
Bus interchange Tel Aviv HaHagana
Holon Junction
Ben Gurion Airport Ben Gurion Airport
Holon-Wolfson
Paatei Modi'in
Kfar Chabad
Ayalon Valley Bridge
Lod Ganei Aviv
Modi'in Central Bus interchange
Lod
Jerusalem–Yitzhak Navon Jerusalem Light RailBus interchange
Bat Yam-Yoseftal
Bat Yam-Komemiyut
Be'er Ya'akov
Rishon LeZion HaRishonim
Ramla
Rishon LeZion Moshe Dayan
Rehovot
Yavne West
Beit Shemesh
Yavne East
Jerusalem Biblical Zoo
Ashdod Ad Halom
Jerusalem Malha
Ashkelon
Mazkeret Batya
Sderot
Kiryat Mal'akhi – Yoav
Netivot
Kiryat Gat
Ofakim
Lehavim-Rahat
Goral Junction
Be'er Sheva North/University
Dimona
Bus interchange Be'er Sheva Center
More information Station, Passengers ...

Lines

Schematic diagram of Israel Railways passenger services
Regional map of past and present railway lines

Israel Railways currently operates 15 passenger service lines.[8] These can be broadly subdivided into inter-city lines, which connect two or more of Israel's major metropolitan centres (Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, and Beersheba), usually skipping some of the intermediate stations, and commuter lines, centered on one metropolitan area and serving all stations on the line. However, Israel Railways no longer officially uses this classification.

Some services were partially or fully suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and electrification works.

Inter-city lines

More information Corridor, Service ...

Commuter lines

More information Metropolitan core, Service ...

† Fully electrified line
‡ Line electrification in progress

Future

See also: Rail transport in Israel

The flagship project of Israel Railways is the construction of an improved rail line from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The line began as an extension of the current railway to Ben Gurion Airport and Modi'in, and terminates in a new underground station beside the Jerusalem Central Bus Station. An additional proposal will connect Modi'in to Jerusalem if built by connecting to the aforementioned line.[9] The project of electrification, starting with the new Jerusalem-Tel Aviv line is ongoing with plans to eventually electrify all or most of the network.

A 23.5 kilometres (14.6 mi) line from the city of Acre, on the Mediterranean coast, to Karmiel was completed in March 2017. However, this tract bypasses Acre and does not make a stop there; it is planned to be extended north to the north-eastern town of Qiryat Shemona, with future stations also planned for Jadeidi-Makr and Majd al-Krum, though there is no timetable for construction. This line will be fully electrified.[10][11]

There were plans to build a high-speed railway to Eilat but in 2019 the project was frozen indefinitely.[12]

In 2011 the reconstruction and expansion of the 60 kilometres (37 mi) long, formerly abandoned Jezreel Valley railway line connecting Haifa and Beit Shean (near the Jordanian border) started. This was completed in 2016. There has been talk of further extending the line to Irbid, in Jordan (to allow a direct freight connection from Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea); however, no decision has yet been made on this matter. Another proposed extension under discussion would connect the reconstructed Jezreel Valley railway at Afula to Tiberias.[13]

In May 2017, an extension of the railway from Arad via Kuseife was approved. The line would connect to the existing Beersheba–Dimona rail line at the proposed new station at Nevatim.[14]

Rolling stock

Israel Railways currently owns a total of 193 locomotives, 717 passenger cars, and 110 MU trainsets.

Current

Locomotives

More information Class, Image ...

Multiple Units

More information Class, Image ...

Carriages

Israel Railways owns a total of 717 passenger cars.

More information Class, Image ...

Retired

Locomotives

Steam Locomotives
More information Class, Image ...
Diesel Locomotives
More information Class, Image ...

Multiple Units

More information Class, Image ...

Carriages

More information Class, Image ...

Organizational structure

The company is headed by a chief executive officer. It has two subsidiaries: a real estate development company, and a freight rail company. The main organization has five operational departments: freight, infrastructure, rolling stock, passengers and development.[49]

In 2017, Israel Railways founded a Tunnels Unit that is responsible for the daily operation of railway tunnels, including lighting, air circulation, etc. and managing emergencies.[50]

Performance

The passenger number history (in millions) is as follows:

1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 1991[51] 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004[52] 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
1.6[53] 4.4 4.1 3.3 2.5 2.9 4.8 5.1 5.6 6.4 8.8 12.7 15.1 17.5 19.8 22.9 26.8 28.4 31.8 35.1 35.9 35.9 35.9 40.4 45[54] 48.5[55] 53[56] 59.5[57] 64.6[58] 67.7[59] 69[60] 24.2[61] 35.0[62] 54.7[63]
More information Total Revenue (million NIS)a, Passenger-kilometers (million) ...

^a In contemporary shekels – not adjusted for inflation

Notable accidents

  • On 26 December 1963 two passenger trains on the then single-track main line linking Tel Aviv and Haifa collided head-on at Bet Yehoshua just south of Netanya.[67] The northbound train had passed a red signal and its locomotive rode over and crushed the locomotive of the southbound train.[68] None of the coaches was derailed but a coupler broke in the northbound train detaching the rear three coaches.[69] The continuous train brake should have then automatically stopped the detached coaches but it had not been connected properly so they started to roll back southwards.[69] 55 people were injured but only three seriously enough to be detained in hospital.[69] The two head-end crews survived but their locomotives, EMD G12s 105 and 118, were destroyed.[69]
  • HaBonim disaster: On 11 June 1985 a train collided with a bus carrying school children, killing 19 children and 3 adults, near moshav HaBonim.[70]
  • On 21 June 2005 an IC3 train crashed into a freight truck near kibbutz Revadim, killing 8 and injuring 198.[71]
  • 8 July 2005, a train collided with a truck between Kiryat Gat and Ahuzam, resulting in the death of the train driver and 38 injuries.[72][73] In February 2012 a plea bargain had been set[74] for the Revadim crash.
  • On 12 June 2006 a train crashed into a truck near Beit Yehoshua, killing 5 and injuring from 77 to over 80.[75][76]
  • On 27 December 2009 a train crashed into a car near Kiryat Gat. The driver proceeded without regard to the train checkpoint on the road. The train struck his car and he was killed.[77]
  • On 5 August 2010 a train crashed into a minibus near Kiryat Gat, killing 7 and injuring 6. The minibus was hit at 19:05 GMT+3 on Route 353, apparently as it tried to pass over a level crossing.[78][79]
  • On 28 December 2010 a fire started in a train near kibbutz Yakum, probably because of a short circuit, injuring 116.[80]
  • On 7 April 2011 two trains collided frontally near Netanya, injuring 59.[81]
  • On 4 October 2013, two men walking along railroad tracks in the Emek Hefer valley industrial zone were killed by a train.[82]
  • On 18 December 2013, a Beersheba-bound train collided with a group of camels walking along railroad tracks at the Segev Shalom Junction in the Negev, killing 14 camels. The incident caused massive delays in train traffic.[83]
  • On 29 December 2013, an Israel Railways worker was run down and killed by a train near Lod.[84]
  • On 15 March 2016, an Israel Railways locomotive crashed into freight wagons, injuring 6.[85]

See also

Ottoman Palestine railways
  • Eastern Railway, Ottoman WWI line, Tulkarm to Hadera and Tulkarm to Lydda; connected to Jezreel Valley, Jaffa–Jerusalem, and Beersheba lines
  • Jaffa–Jerusalem railway (inaugurated 1892)
  • Jezreel Valley railway (1905-1948), segment of the Haifa–Dera'a Line which connected the Hejaz Railway to the port of Haifa
  • Railway to Beersheba or the 'Egyptian Branch', Ottoman WWI line headed towards the Suez Canal; two lines: (Lidda–) Wadi Surar (Nahal Soreq)–Beit Hanoun, and Wadi Surar–Beersheba
Mandate Palestine & Israel railways

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Bibliography

  • Cotterell, Paul (1986). The Railways of Palestine and Israel. Tourret Publishing. ISBN 0-905878-04-3.
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