Rosh HaAyin – Ariel railway line
The Rosh HaAyin – Ariel railway is a light rail project in Israel and the West Bank .
Geographical location
The line is to emanate from Rosh HaAyin on the Tel Aviv – Kfar Saba railway line and connect it to the eastern city of Ariel in the West Bank. It touches a number of other settlement centers, commercial and industrial areas .
history
The project was already envisaged as a full line in a master plan for the development of the Israeli railway network from 1997, but was then not implemented. In March 2018 it was operated again by the Israeli Transport Minister Israel Katz . The main reason is the catastrophic traffic situation on the street in the greater Tel Aviv area . People there spend around 277 million person-hours in traffic jams every year . The costs for this are put at 673 million euros . The project is now to be implemented in a version of a light rail system that is reduced in terms of effort and can be implemented more quickly. This is not without controversy because freight traffic on the route is then not possible. The ministry awarded the planning contract to Israel Roads Ltd. awarded who also planned the Haifa – Bet She'an railway and the Akko – Karmi'el railway . The problem is that a considerable part of the route lies in the West Bank, i.e. in occupied territory according to international law .
Technical parameters
The line is to be built in standard gauge , with a maximum gradient of 30 ‰ and a minimum curve radius of 400 m. Three different route variants are discussed, which differ mainly with regard to the connection to Rosh HaAyin and the passage of the route through Petach Tikva :
- Option A: The connection takes place in the north station of Rosh HaAjin and the route is 29 km long.
- Variant B: Direct connection to Rosh HaAjin, without direct entry into the north station, which is only connected via a connecting curve, but the connection of additional settlement centers. The route is 35.5 km long.
- Variant C: More southerly alignment in the area of Petach Tikwa and Rosh HaAyin (several variants are being discussed), but a western end at the terminus of the “Red Line” of the future Tel Aviv light rail . This variant would be 34 km long.
literature
- Report in: HaRakevet 121 (June 2018), p. 17