Tel Aviv – Jerusalem railway line

Tel Aviv-Jerusalem
Route length:	56 km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend Coastal railway on the main line   from Nahariya via Haifa 96.2 Tel Aviv haHagana since 2002 Tel Aviv – Bnei Darom   to Javne Maʿarav route since 2011 J&J line from Jaffa 97.2 0.0 Tel Aviv Darom (South) 1970–93   passenger station, since then operating station End of Ayjalon corridor J&J line via Lod to Jerusalem-Malcha Ayyalon ~ 19 Ben Gurion Airport Ayyalon Landstrasse 1 (600 m) Connection to the Eastern Railway to Lod Ostbahn , Landstrasse 40 (600 m) Bridge (500m), bridge (500m) Pa'atei Modiʿin Bridge 4 (120 m) Bridge 5 (180 m), Bridge (300 m) Tunnel (~ 1200 m) Tunnel (280 m) Modi'in Green line Landstrasse 3, bridge (1200 m) Tunnel 1 (3500 m) Green line Bridge 7 (80 m) Tunnel 2 (1250 m) Yitla (150 m) Tunnel 3 (11600 m), Green Line Bridge 9 (255 m) Tunnel 3a (850 m), green line Bridge 10 (975 m) Tunnel 4 (2900 m) 56.0 Jerusalem J. Navon

The Tel Aviv – Jerusalem railway line ( Hebrew קַו הָרַכֶּבֶת הַמָּהִיר לִירוּשָׁלַיִם Qaw ha-Rakkevet ha-Mahīr l-Īrūschalajim , German 'Fast Railway Line to Jerusalem' , also called "A1") is a 56 km long, standard-gauge , double-track , electrified new line in Israel that runs between the two cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem via the Ben Gurion Airport passes. It is the first electrified line in the country.

Traffic geography

The routing of the existing single-track railway line to Jerusalem (J&J line) via Lod, which originally began in Jaffa, essentially dates from the end of the 19th century, has narrow radii and is therefore hardly competitive with the road connection. The trains run every two hours, but are only moderately busy due to the long journey time of around 80 minutes between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. However, the capacity of the road link has also long been insufficient. The new terminus of the J&J line, Jerusalem-Malcha , is also around 20 minutes by car from the city center of Jerusalem, the old central Jerusalem station has been closed since 1998.

history

planning

Planning options for the construction of the Tel Aviv – Jerusalem line

At the end of the 20th century, planning began for a high-speed railway line when the old line was not passable for several years due to technical defects. First, different variants were discussed. The decision was made in favor of the A1 variant, a new route along Autobahn 1 with a junction to Modi'in. On June 13, 2001, the Israeli Transport Minister Efraim Sneh and the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced that both the existing route and a new route (A1) should be built. Originally, the route should be completed in 2008.

construction

Construction began in 2001 and was divided into two sections:

• Tel Aviv – Ben Gurion Airport (western part): The line begins approx. 6 km southeast of the HaHagana train station in Tel Aviv, where it branches off from the section used by the J&J line and the main line . This section was completed in 2004.
• Ben Gurion Airport - Jerusalem Train Station - Yitzchak Navon (eastern section) with a branch to Modiʿin .

The construction costs were estimated at 3.5 billion NIS in 2001 and were estimated at 6.5 billion NIS at the opening in 2018.

The first test drive with a loaded freight train took place on August 20, 2017.

route

Existing route

In Jerusalem, the route ends in the underground railway terminus Yitzhak Navon , which is below the central bus station in Jerusalem. The platform level in the station is 80 m below the surface, so that the journey from there to the platforms with the escalators takes almost 10 minutes.

The line has nine tunnels (including the end tunnel with Yitzhak Navon station ). A significant part of the route runs in tunnels and over bridges. The line was electrified for an alternating voltage of 25 kV and a frequency of 50 Hz.

Route through the West Bank

The route is controversial as it runs through the Palestinian West Bank in two places with a total length of 6 km . However, most of it runs in two tunnels, one in the area of Latrun and the other through the boundaries of the villages of Beit Surit and Beit Iksa. The relocation of this second section of the route took place after the residents of the Israeli city of Mewasseret Zion protested against a tunnel running under their location. After protests by Israeli and Palestinian activists, especially a report by the Coalition of Women for Peace that was also widespread in Germany, Deutsche Bahn withdrew from its advisory role in the construction project in spring 2011.

Expansion and planning

At the moment (beginning of 2020) electrification is being pushed ahead at the western end of the line so that further stations in Tel-Aviv can be used in the future.

At the eastern end of the track extension is planned: The tunnel is about 2.5 km to the current terminus Yitzhak Navon be pursued under the Old City of Jerusalem, where a stop Western Wall and Temple Mount near the lament or Western Wall received . The terminus is to be placed roughly where the monumental reception building of the old Jerusalem train station, which was closed in 1998, is located, which is 2.2 km away from the Western Wall and the Western Wall. The new terminus is to be named after the US President Donald Trump .

business

Train in the new Jerusalem railway station

leader

Beginning in 2018 the test operation began with the first of Bombardier -Werk in Kassel delivered electric locomotive of type Bombardier Traxx AC3. Based on experience with the high temperatures of the summer months, series production of the 62 planned machines is to begin. They should also be used on other routes in the country that have yet to be electrified.

opening

The official opening of the high-speed line , after having been postponed several times, took place on September 20, 2018 with the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu , and the Minister of Transport, Israel Katz . The Ben Gurion Airport – Jerusalem section was used, but only at 120 km / h. The opening took place more than ten years after the originally planned date.

Planned operation

Since September 25, 2018, there has been a scheduled shuttle service every half hour between Ben Gurion Airport and Jerusalem, because the electrification from Ben Gurion Airport to Tel Aviv was not yet operational. The trips were free, but had to be booked in advance. Since December 21, 2019, the trains have been running from Tel-Aviv HaHagana station to Jerusalem. This led to an increase in the number of passengers from 224,000 to 395,000 (76%) in the first month.

60 pairs of trains run daily between Tel-Aviv HaHagana and Jerusalem Yitzhak Navon with a stop at the airport. The trains to Jerusalem take 34 minutes, those to Tel Aviv 32 minutes for the entire route and reach a speed of 160 km / h.

Web links

Commons : Tel Aviv-Jerusalem railway line  - collection of images

• Project website of the Israel Railways (Hebrew)
• Video with aerial photos of the route under construction
• First test drive on the A1

Individual evidence

1. ↑ A1, Really? (PDF) (No longer available online.) Transport Today & Tomorrow, archived from the original on March 5, 2009 ; Retrieved May 29, 2008 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ^ Minister Sneh Decided - A Fast Railway in Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion Airport-Modi'in-Jerusalem Line - Best Alternative. (DOC) Ministry of Transport , June 12, 2001, archived from the original on September 28, 2007 ; Retrieved January 5, 2008 (Hebrew). 
3. ↑ Times of Israel report of September 27, 2018. In: HaRakevet 122 (September 2018), pp. 13f (14).
4. ↑ New rail line tested between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. From: israelnetz.com , August 21, 2017, accessed September 3, 2017.
5. ↑ NN: The last Trump Terminus . In: HaRakevet 128 (March 2020), p. 8.
6. ^ ^{A b} Jeremy Topaz: [Report on route travel]. In: HaRakevet 122 (September 2018), p. 13.
7. ↑ Sybil Ehrlich: [Report on the opening]. In: HaRakevet 122 (September 2018), p. 12f.
8. ↑ Times of Israel report of September 27, 2018. In: HaRakevet 122 (September 2018), pp. 13f.
9. ↑ Connection to Jerusalem: Israel opens controversial train route through the West Bank . In: Spiegel Online . September 20, 2018 ( spiegel.de [accessed October 23, 2019]).
10. ↑ Fast Train Between TA, J'lem to Run Through West Bank . In: The Jerusalem Post . November 6, 2010 ( jpost.com [accessed May 10, 2020]).
11. ^ Deutsche Bahn Pulls Out of TA-Jerusalem Railroad . In: Haaretz . May 12, 2011 ( Haaretz.com [accessed May 10, 2020]).
12. ↑ ^{a b c} Initial Success on the A1 Jerusalem Line . In: HaRakevet 128 (March 2020), p. 7.
13. ↑ NN: The last Trump Terminus . In: HaRakevet 128 (March 2020), p. 8.
14. ↑ NN: Test operation on a new line . In: Lok Magazin 4/2018, p. 36.
15. ↑ Extensive reports are given in: HaRakevet 122 (September 2018), pp. 11-14.
16. ↑ Express train connection to Jerusalem inaugurated. Israel today, 9/21/18 , 7
17. ^ First direct trains between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv commence operations in Jerusalem Post (online), accessed March 31, 2020
18. ↑ Steve Satler: Opening of the A1 line . In: HaRakevet 128 (March 2020), p. 18.