Jeremaya Goldberg

Mar 7, 2025 | railjournal.com | Jeremaya Goldberg

Red Line extended by 7.25km to the north and south. JERUSALEM’s sole light rail line, the Red Line, was extended at both its northern and southern ends on February 27. A planned opening ceremony was cancelled due to security concerns and other factors, with full services commencing on February 28.  The line has been extended by 2.75km north of Pisgat-Ze'ev to Neve Yaakov, and by 4.5km south of Mount Herzl to Hadassah Ein-Karem Medical Centre. In total, 12 new stops have been added to the Red Line.

Jan 16, 2025 | railjournal.com | Jeremaya Goldberg

Several new sections of line in the early stages of development are part of comprehensive network expansion programme. ISRAEL Railways (IR) and the Ministry of Transportation and Road Safety issued a statement on January 9 detailing progress on the Connecting Israel programme. Launched in July 2023, it set out plans to expand the national network by 300km.

Sep 9, 2024 | railjournal.com | Jeremaya Goldberg

ISRAEL Railways (IR) has completed a Shekels 246m ($US 66m) project to build a rail link to the new Southern Terminal under construction at the Port of Ashdod, 40km south of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean coast. Working with partner HCT, IR has built a new 2.2km line in tunnel to provide freight trains with direct access to the four-track terminal. The new connection will increase the volume of freight transported to the port by rail, and ease a road transport bottleneck.

Aug 28, 2024 | railjournal.com | Jeremaya Goldberg

Push-pull trains with Alstom coaches will be extended from seven to 10 cars. ISRAEL Railways (IR) has started extending the length of its push-pull trains formed of Alstom (formerly Bombardier) double-deck coaches. Previous seven- or eight-car formations will be extended to 10 cars, providing around 1300 seats. The operator is responding to passenger traffic forecasts which show growth from 70 million passengers in 2019 to 300 million in 2040, an increase of well over 300%.

Aug 6, 2024 | railjournal.com | Jeremaya Goldberg

ISRAEL Railways (IR) has issued a Request for Information (RFI) as it considers ordering a new fleet of up to 90 freight locomotives. IR estimates that it will require up to 20 locomotives by the end of 2026, with the remainder to be delivered in batches until 2040. The document specifies six-axle machines with a Co-Co wheel arrangement, with a maximum speed of 120km/h and an axleload of 22.5 tonnes. Propulsion is likely to include diesel, 25kV ac electric, hydrogen and battery power.