A project for laying a railway line from Ashkelon southwards, including linking it up with the Lod – Na‘an – Be`er Sheva Line and construction of new stations at Sderot, Netivot and Ofakim.
The project involves the construction of 3 road bridges, 18 railway bridges, 4 grade separations, 11 agricultural crossings, and 48 culverts; the numerous infrastructures disposed along the route are also to be attended to by means of protective shielding or relocation.
The project is divided into two main sections: Ashkelon – Netivot, and Netivot – Be`er Sheva.
The Ashkelon – Yad Mordechai portion of the Ashkelon – Netivot Section will be laid in double track formation; the remainder as far as Netivot will be constructed as a single track line with an infrastructure suitable for double tracks.
The Netivot – Be`er Sheva Section will be laid in single track formation with infrastructure elements ready for future track doubling.
This has been declared a Project of National Importance.
The project entails construction of a double track line from Kefar Sava linking up with the coastal line, construction of 2 new stations in Ra‘anana (Ra‘anana West and Ra‘anana South), upgrading of Herzliyya Station, and doubling of the coastal line (from 2 to 4 tracks) from Herzliyya to Tel Aviv-University.
The administration of the project has been divided between the National Roads Company—in charge of the Kefar Sava – Herzliyya Section, and Israel Railways—in charge of the coastal line doubling and Herzliyya Station upgrading operations.
This is a NIS 150 million project for improving the punctuality and frequency of trains during peak hours, providing a solution for heavier rail traffic following the opening of the Tel Aviv – Rishon LeTsiyyon – Bne Darom Line and completion of the upgrading and doubling of the Lod – Na‘an – Be`er Sheva Line. When the project is finished in mid-2012, 3 additional trains will be able to run in each direction in peak hours.
The project entails infrastructure and signalling works in the track area along the River Ayalon, expected to go on for about a year; when completed, it will be possible to increase the number of trains running on this section, and improve punctuality and the grade of service offered to passengers. The main improvement will be felt during peak hours—especially on Sundays and Thursdays, when the number of passengers rises to a much higher level than usual.
At present the Ayalon Corridor is a critical bottleneck shared by the entire rail network; only 3 main tracks join Tel Aviv Central and Tel Aviv HaHagana Stations at the moment, allowing only 11 trains to pass through in each direction during peak hours (10 trains per hour already run in peak hours).
The purpose of the project is to increase the number of trains that can be operated in peak hours from 11 to 14 per direction by means of technological modifications only and refurbishing of systems, without any physical construction work on the track infrastructure.
As a solution, signalling systems of the SBS (Short Block Section) type are to be installed on the Ayalon alignment; this solution is based on setting up 700-800 m. long signalling sections, enabling a greater number of trains per hour to be sent through.
This solution has been studied jointly by representatives of Israel Railways, the German consultancy firm DBI, the University of Aachen, ViaCon Ltd., and the signalling systems Thales Ltd., and accepted unreservedly. In order to maintain train safety standards using the SBS technique together with keeping to a speed limit of 80 kph, it was decided on widespread employment of the speed enforcement system operated in Germany and currently undergoing a pilot trial in Israel.