Eastern Railway (Israel)

The Eastern Railway (Hebrew: המסילה המזרחית, romanized: ha-mesila ha-mizraḥit) refers to a railroad in central Israel stretching from Lod to Hadera. The section between Kfar Saba and Lod, as well as a short section just north of Hadera are currently in use but the rest of the railway has not been operative since 1969. However, in 2019 a large-scale project began to rebuild and upgrade the railway along the entire route.^[1][2]

History

Ottoman Empire

The railway was constructed by the

When the State of Israel was established in 1948, most of the line lay within its borders, except for a small section of railway near Tulkarm. In 1949 a bypass was constructed west of Tulkarm which allowed renewal of service on the railway. In 1953, Israel Railways completed constructing the Coastal Railway from Hadera to Tel Aviv on a route roughly paralleling the Eastern Railway's, but much closer to the coastline, where most of the population resides. Nevertheless, some passenger and freight service on the Eastern railway continued operating, partly to show Israeli presence in the region around the railway which lay very close to the 1949 Armistice Line – then the country's eastern border with Jordan. The railway also derived its name from this easterly location within the country. After Israel came to control both sides of the Armistice Line following the 1967 Six-Day War, service on the section of the line from just south of the Hadera East railway station to Kfar Saba was discontinued in 1969. This railway section was effectively abandoned, and had since then been dismantled.

The rest of the line between Kfar Saba and Lod continued operating, albeit mainly for freight services, with a few passenger trains making use of the section between Rosh HaAyin and Lod on the way from northern Tel Aviv and points north of it to the

mill complex.

21st century

v t e Israel Eastern Railway Route Map
Legend
to Haifa, Nahariya, Beit She'an & Karmiel Binyamina Caesarea-Pardes Hanna Hadera West Hadera East Ahituv to Netanya Samaria – Tayibe Tira – Kochav Yair Kfar Saba North to Herzliya Kfar Saba – Nordau Rosh HaAyin North to Tel Aviv University Petah Tikva Segula Rosh HaAyin South Elad to Tel Aviv HaHagana Airport City Ben Gurion Airport to Modi'in & Jerusalem Kfar Chabad Lod Ganei Aviv Lod to Beersheba Be'er Ya'akov via Rehovot, Ashkelon, & Netivot Ramla to Beit Shemesh to Beersheba via Kiryat Gat

Partly to alleviate congestion on the Coastal Railway as well as to increase freight capacity on the national rail network and provide rail access to a planned inland port, the government of Israel announced in 2016 plans to revive the old Eastern line at a projected cost of at least NIS 10 billion (appx. US$2.7 billion in 2018 dollars).^[1][3] The project involves rebuilding the railroad in the Hadera – Kfar Saba section and upgrading the existing section between Rosh HaAyin and Lod, including the construction of 30 grade separations, ten other supporting structures, and connections and flying junctions with other railroads. The entire route will be electrified and double-tracked, and stations will be constructed in Kokhav Ya'ir, El'ad, and Airport City business park (near the old Kafr Jinis station).^[4] A significant portion of the railway will be built alongside the existing Cross-Israel Highway.

In 2018, the National Roads Company (Netivei Yisrael) began acquiring land necessary for the project.^[5] The awarding of construction contracts began in 2019 with actual works expected to commence in 2020 and take 6 to 7 years to complete. The National Roads Company is supervising the rebuilding of the defunct line from Hadera to Kfar Sava, while Israel Railways is managing the upgrading and double-tracking of the section between Rosh HaAyin and Lod. The section between Hadera and Rosh HaAyin is scheduled to be opened in 2025, while the start of commercial operations of the Eastern Railway in its entirety is planned for 2027.^[6]

References

32°9′0.06″N 34°56′7.8″E / 32.1500167°N 34.935500°E / 32.1500167; 34.935500