Ashkelon – Beer Sheva railway line

Ashkelon – Be'er Sheva
Route length:	60 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend Sinai Railway from Lod 0.0 Ashkelon Military Railway at-Tina – Coast of at-Tina Chelez Railway to Qirjat Gat (freight traffic only) Connection to the Dorad power plant Military railway at Tina coast to Al-Hudsch or Beit Hanun ( railway in the Gaza Strip ) and this on to Rafah ( Sinai railway ) Military railway at Tina coast to Al-Hudsch Sderot Netiwot Ofakim Mabahnūdiyya – Sinai military railway Main line Nahariya – Beer Sheva from Tel Aviv 60.0 73.0 Be'er Scheva -Zafon / Universita 73.5 0.0 after Dimona , Tzefa and Har Tzin 2.5 Rail freight from Ramat Hovav since 2004 2.9 Be'er Sheva Merkaz since 2000 Military railway Maṣʿūdiyya – Sinai   to Maṣʿūdiyya, here 1915–1918

Ashkelon train station

The Ashkelon – Be'er Scheva railway is a 60 km long line operated by Israel Railways . It is one of the two lines that connect Ashkelon south of the city with the Nahariya – Be'er Sheva railway.

Geographical location

The line branches off from the existing connection Ashkelon – Kirjat Gat (on the Naharija – Be'er Sheva route) in an approximately southerly direction at the point where the junction to the port of Ashkelon is and the existing line turns almost 90 degrees to the east Turn towards Kirjat Gat. The new route now briefly follows the old route of the Sinai Railway until shortly before it crosses into the Gaza Strip . From this historic route, which leads to the southwest, the new route bends south and runs north of Sderot within sight of the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip. The Netiwot and Ofakim train stations follow further south . There the line turns to the east and meets - without any further train station - north of Be'er Sheva on the line Nahariya – Be'er Sheva.

history

Construction began on July 4, 2010. Even before the line was opened, intensive rocket fire from Israel from the Gaza Strip in 2012 meant that consideration was given to how train traffic on the line could be protected in such situations. Among other things, dense planting or a screen wall was considered so that trains can not be targeted . The first section to Netiwot was opened in December 2013. The entire route was opened in September 2015. The construction costs were 360 ​​million euros . Passenger traffic on the route began in January 2016.

Infrastructure

The line has three stations between Ashkelon and Beersheba. The travel time between the two cities is 45 minutes. The route has four bridges to cross roads without crossing, and 14 other bridges over wadis . The longest of the bridges, the Shikma Bridge , is 450 m long. The track planum was for a two-track running track, even if initially only one track has been laid.

Remarks

1. ↑ See Operation Cloud Pillar .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Project website ( Memento from July 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (Hebrew)
2. ↑ Israel Railways and Ofakim Congregation: Joint press release v. October 27, 2015. In: Ha Rakevet 111 (December 2015), p. 5.
3. ↑ HaRakevet No. 90 (2010), p. 4, No. xii.