The discussion between the Prime Minister’s office and the Finance Ministry is becoming a “hot potato; Mr. Netanyahu has recently unveiled his program to invest $12.5 billion in developing the rail network between 2012 and 2020.

According to this program, rail links will be created from Metula at the Upper Galilee near the Lebanese border to Eilat on the Red Sea, as well as the revival of part of the Hedjaz railway line between Haifa and the Jordanian border, believing that only fast rail link will put an end to the word periphery, will enable to improve employment at rural areas by transferring factories there, as well as reducing road congestion, among the others by switching freight from road to rail.

The investment over the mentioned years will be increased from $2.5 to $3.75 billion annually; the program is not relevant for the 2009/2010 budget, and as a result the disagreement will be loudly heard after the 2-year budget will be approved.

According to Mr. Netanyahu, the Israeli rail network is “200 years behind those of the developed world” (he probably does not know that the first public railway in the world started only in 1825…..Aharon Gazit), and even considers to cancel the planned mass transit programs in Tel-Aviv and Haifa! (Jerusalem is already a fact!).

It did not pass without a response, and seniors at the Finance Ministry have shown a hard opposition, claiming that “What Mr. Netanyahu said was relevant for the 19^th century when rail was the only modern mean of transport (this is probably as a “counterweight” for the 200 years….Aharon Gazit), but today with the road network in the periphery, rail will not contribute”.

They added that the preferred mode for rail is light rail as an alternative to bus; rail links are practical only for cities with 50000 and more inhabitants.

It seems to me that they meant light rail cars in addition to LRV.

Regarding the switch of freight traffic from road to rail, it is economical only over hundreds of kilometers, which hardly exist in Israel.

We have to wait and see the developments.

If this was not enough, then during the present week, Israeli most popular newspaper Yediot Aharonot (Latest News), published a huge analysis over 8 pages regarding the Israeli public transport situation; here is a summary of the article with their permission:

The main conclusions are:

1.   Due to the fact that most of the railway stations are outside towns and cities, passengers need complementing bus services; these are not coordinated with rail timetable, causing car owners to use kiss-and-ride system which brings parking areas to overcapacity and illegal parking behavior; non car owners are suffering.

2.   According to the railways’ General Manager Yitzhak Harel, “The buses operators see the railways as a threat and therefore do not co-operate”; they deny it and say: “On the contrary, we are fully co-operating, we believe that without rail link-as well as without bus feeding services public transport can’t exist”. (this is a big progress; in the past bus operators believed that they are the ultimate public transport service…Aharon Gazit).

3.   As long as the promised Upper Public Transport Authority does not become a reality, the public will suffer from the disintegration between transport modes; additionally, only such an authority can force all the involved operators to introduce the long awaited smart card valid for all transport modes, as well forcing bus operators to provide their drivers with rail timetable.

He finally mentioned that the former transport ministers Shitrit and Mofaz have shown good will in promoting the needed improvements in public transport but did not manage to implement them.

Additionally, Deputy General Manager for Land Transportation in the Transport said in an interview to that article: “Many people want rail link but not near their home; as a result, even the newly planned links like to Carmiel (in the Lower Galilee) and Afula (on the proposed for revival Hedjaz line), will suffer from outside cities stations, just because the government can’t reach an agreement with some land owners”.

Regarding the location of stations, an historical fact should be mentioned: at the end of 1954, after the opening of Tel-Aviv Central (today called also Savidor) station, the railways wanted to link it with the then Tel-Aviv South station dated from 1920, which was at the centre of Tel-Aviv.

The municipality immediately rejected it, although there were neither land problems nor serious intersecting streets; later on, in 1970, the railways were forced to demolish Tel-Aviv South station in favor of a huge parking area; instead a new Tel-Aviv South station has been built outside the city, it was rarely used, and at the end closed for passenger service, used today as training centre; should not these 2 mistakes been done, the public transport picture at the mentioned areas of Tel-Aviv, would have been entirely different!

The insufficient size of the available passenger rolling stock particularly on Sundays, has caused on 31.05.09 the following: train #101 from Nahariya to Beer-Sheva, normally scheduled to arrive at Lod at 07:28 a.m. arrived instead at 08:00 a.m..

As a result of an overloaded car, and for safety reasons, passengers have been instructed to pass to other train part, but unfortunately, soldiers which have been on a certain car, have been told to un-board and wait for the next train #1037 which was supposed to arrive within 20 minutes.

It caused an anger of the soldiers’ parents who complained about discrimination, as well as demanding from the railways to provide them with letters to their commanders with the reason of the delay.

The railways published on the same day a press release, in which they explained-in addition to safety aspects-that in order to solve the extra overloads on Sundays, 2 double-deck trains with 2 locos are operated providing a capacity of 1800 including standees.

Additionally, Mr. Harel is working with the Ministry of Defense to change the arrival times of soldiers to their bases in order to relief congestion.   

written by,
Aharon Gazit

 

The Israeli's most popular daily newspaper Yediot Aharonot (latest news) has published through his correspondent for transportation Mr. Benny Barak an Interesting article under the headline "The railway system is under delay"; I'm bringing here a summary of this article under his permission: "Anybody who thought that the fast rail link A1 to Jerusalem will soon be completed is wrong; the same is true about the proposed rail link to Eilat on the Red Sea.

The new budget of $7.25 billion for the railways presented last week to parliament (Knesset) may sound high, but it is not, when considering the fact that is being deployed until 2012.

The projects included in the budget are as following:

1. Completion of Tel-Aviv-Hahagana to Rishon-Le-Zion-West line (Moshe Dayan)-to be operational in 2011/2012 at a total cost of $525 million.
2. Completion of double-tracking the suburban line between Tel-Aviv and Kfar-Sava-scheduled for June 2010 at a cost of $174 million.
3. Completion of double-tracking and realigning the Tel-Aviv-Beer-Sheva (more accurate: Ramla-Na'an-Beer-Sheva of which the section Ramla-Na'an is common for the old rebuilt line to Jerusalem; Aharon Gazit) scheduled for March 2011 at a cost of $670 million.
4. Completion of double-tracking the Kiryat-Motzkin-Nahariya section scheduled for September 2011 at a cost of $141.5 million.
5. Building and completion of the Ashkelon-Beer-Sheva line until June 2012 at a cost of $297 million; this line and the A1 to Jerusalem have delayed the start and completion of the $328 million electrification program to December 2015; the program is to be re-checked.
6. Building and completion scheduled for December 2012 of the missing vital link between Kfar-Sava and Shefayim (on the Tel-Aviv-Haifa mainline north of Hertzliya). (This $303 million program will create a direct, fast, and much more convenient link with Tel-Aviv and the south, as well as Haifa and northwards, for the people of Kfar-Sava and Ra'anana and surroundings rather than the present inadequate journey through Rosh-Ha-Ayin and Bnei-Brak, saving at least ten minutes; here all the obstacles made by various factors have been recently removed thus clearing the way for works' start; Aharon Gazit).
7. Completion of another missing vital link between Rishon-Le-Zion West (Moshe Dayan) and Pleshet junction scheduled for December 2012 at a cost of $246 million. (This link will enable a fast, continues, and convenient link between Ashkelon, Tel-Aviv, Haifa, and Nahariya, rather than the present inadequate journey through Lod; Aharon Gazit).
8. The A1 fast rail link to Jerusalem, scheduled-as for now-for completion on March 2016 at a total cost of $1.719 billion; this is now stuck at the Supreme Court due to appeals of the environmentalists.

Finally the correspondent mentions an additional budget of $1.012 billion for new rolling stock.

The article also mentions the Valley of Yizrael (Hedjaz) railway line revival, as dream, although about $37 million have been allocated for design and promotion.

(It seems that here Mr. Benny Barak is wrong; I've spoken myself with the railways who confirmed that the government is particularly interested to build this line between Haifa, Afula, and Beit-Shean; Aharon Gazit).

Another line not to be built soon-as for now-is between Akko and Carmiel in the Lower Galilee budgeted at $27 million for design and promotion, though originally scheduled for 2012".

So far, the article, but as will be reported further on, there is no place for pessimism.



The railways have started a new service initiated by the General Manager Mr. Yitzhak Harel (Haki) called "Meeting on train", during which the General Manager and his senior staff are meeting directly and in a non-formal way on trains and at different stations.

During these meetings the passengers are requested to ask any questions they want, complain, and raise any ideas they have regarding rail services.

The dates of this meetings as well as the ideas already raised are published in the railway website, and all that is needed from the passengers is to arrive at the place on time without any preparation or registering.

The first "Meeting on train" took place on 15.06.09, during which Mr. Harel and his senior staff joined a journey between Haifa Hof-Ha-Carmel and Tel-Aviv Savidor (Central) stations, and talked with the passengers about their satisfaction from rail services; as the service suggests, the passengers also raised ideas for service improvements, etc.

Here are some of the main questions and answers:

Q. when will the Siemens trains be at last in service?

A. Mr. Harel has already answered it through a press release more than a week ago, in which he clarified that the trains are being re-checked due to various operational problems, he said, however, in the meeting that they will hopefully return to service soon.

Q. Why are reserved seats not available on Sundays morning and Thursdays afternoons?

A. The railways have to cope with a continues rise in passengers service demands while facing-at the same time-a severe shortage of rolling stock particularly in peak periods, when all the available equipment is operated and over capacity; in order to enable seats for all the passengers wishing the best service, reserved seats are not available.

Q. What are the railways doing to reduce congestion on trains?

A. This refers first of all to the Siemens built trains currently under re-check; the 87 cars on which these trains consist were bought in order to reduce congestion (as well as to replace outdated cars; Aharon Gazit), and upon reintroducing them the congestion will hopefully be reduced.

Furthermore, the railways intend to purchase additional rolling stock; additionally, on Sundays mornings and Thursdays afternoons, the railways are operating 2 double-deck trains coupled together, offering an almost 1200 seats capacity.

Q. What are the railways doing regarding delays?

A. Mr. Harel sees the punctuality as the top parameter of the service revolution he leads (as well as dialogue with customers; Aharon Gazit), and in 2008 the railways achieved an average of 91.3% in punctuality, the highest over the last decade.

Q. When will there be an internet link on the trains?

A. The railways are acting to promote the installation of an internet link on trains.

The new service has also its logo-by separate mail.



During 2008, 248 cases of breaking barriers arms at level crossings have been reported by car drivers violating the law by not stopping even with arms down; just on last week channel 10 of the TV has shown that even a bus driver with passengers did so; all these cases are documented and the police tries to act as soon as possible against the violators; some sources suggest that Israel has reached a world record in the phenomena according to some parameters!



The railways are not resting on their laurels, and the following shows it:

Tender #HN/KB/03/09-Designing and building bridge #10 on the A1 fast link to Jerusalem.

Works include: Designing and building of the bridged section called bridge #10, to be part of the Tel-Aviv-Jerusalem A1 fast rail link, as well as deigning and building of 2 supporting walls- wall #5 supporting the nearby road #1, and supporting wall #8, which supports a planned service road.

The designed bridge #10 itself consists of 11 spans of 45 to 125 meter; the bridge will be 975 m long with a maximum height of 80 m, located above Cedars' Valley at the western entrance to Jerusalem, and between the planned A3 twin-bored tunnels west of the bridge, and A4 twin-bored tunnels east of the bridge.

Works include also receiving building permissions from the proper authorities.

Implementation times: 180 days for design + 36 months for building.

Latest bidding date: 24.09.09.

(Note: This tender shows that the railways are doing their best to carry out any available part of the A1 project; Aharon Gazit).



Tender #MS/RC/2009/4- Allowance for selling kosher hot drinks and light food on trains using carried bags.

The contract is for test running time of 6 months with optional extensions of up to additional 48 months.

Latest bidding date: 21.07.09.

written by,
Aharon Gazit

 

The railways continue improving the protection and security of the passengers as an integral part of the tendency to improve passenger services.

The Israeli company Elbit Systems, who is the winning bidder of the railways' $10 million tender for protection and security, will install electronic devices for protecting and securing railway stations and other sites all over the network, among which are fences with advanced sensors, detectors, ultra modern cameras, etc.

Over the almost 1000 km network, there are 47 passenger stations, and 338 passenger trains operate daily.

Elbit systems is developing, marketing, and implementing integration of advanced electronic and electro-optical security systems for customers all over the world.

The company is focusing on development of command, monitoring, and control systems, intelligence and information systems for the military market, upgrading of military aircrafts, watercrafts, and vehicles, and development and sale of MAPV and UAV.

 

As part of improving the passenger services, the railways have today introduced a new service providing information regarding timetable and tariffs from wherever the passenger might be at a certain moment, just by sending an SMS massage in a free language to #5770 (without * as usual) and getting a response within seconds-directly to the mobile phone; the service is available 24 hours around the clock, offered to all the members of cellular companies in Israel at a cost of $0.12 for each question (the question includes the sent massage and the answer received).

The railways' General Manager Mr. Yitzhak Harel (Haki) said: "As an integral part of a wide concept of improving passenger services on which we're constantly active, the introduction of SMS service is of high importance for us, thus being an important step of the railways to provide our customers a quickly available information".



Between Monday, 22.06.09 and Wednesday, 24.06.09 (including), the section Kiryat-Gat-Beer-Sheva-Dimona will be closed in both directions; as a result, the following changes will take place:

There will be no passenger services to/from the stations of Lehavim/Rahat; Beer-Sheva Noth/University; Beer-Sheva Central, and Dimona.

All trains on the Tel-Aviv-Beer-Sheva line will start/terminate at Kiryat-Gat station.

There will be no services between Beer-Sheva and Dimona in both directions.

The railways will provide shuttle services free of charge as an alternative to rail services over the closed section at the following stations in both directions: Kiryat-Gat (close to train arrival at the station); Lehavim/Rahat; Beer-Sheva North/University, and Beer-Sheva Central.

The Northbound shuttles will depart from Beer-Sheva Central station one hour prior to the scheduled departures of trains from Kiryat-Gat station, and will call at Beer-Sheva North/University, and Lehavim/Rahat until arrival at Kiryat-Gat; tickets are to be issued at Kiryat-Gat to destination.

The Southbound shuttles will wait at Kiryat-Gat station for arriving trains; they will call at the same stations as Northbound but in opposite direction; here tickets must be issued at the departure station.

The reason for closing the mentioned sections are the following works to be carried out on the Kiryat-Gat-Beer-Sheva section:

On the Tel-Nagila-Devira subsection: laying 2 turnouts on the mainline, including a 400 m long track infrastructure, as the first stage of operating a double-track section, currently enabling laying of the west side track.

On the Devira-Lehavim subsection: working at 2 sites at the same time, including the removal of an active turnout and linking the newly laid west side track with the existing one; works will enable moving the traffic over a new alignment while rebuilding and upgrading the existing track, as well as completion the construction of 3 railway bridges.

The railways have apologized before the public on the inconvenience caused by line closure.

 

In a letter from General Manager Mr. Yitzhak Harel (Haki) distributed today between deputy managers and relevant departments’ managers, they have been instructed to “Return to depot for rechecking the Siemens built single-deck push/pull train #902, until the reasons for repeating failures will be found as well as solutions, thus enabling the return to service without failures”.

The train has been in service test runs during the last 2 months and the mentioned failures caused delays and complaints from passengers.

Mr. Harel is also considering penalties against Siemens for the commercial damaged by delays.

He added: “The new train has been put into service test runs as part of an overall attempt to increase the rolling stock fleet and improving passenger services; during the test runs, new technical problems have been found which caused numerous delays, anger from passengers, and reduced punctuality level.

Service quality and punctuality are the first subject being treated by me since I started my job last year, and if the new train causes damage to service quality and punctuality, it must be rechecked”.

Despite the fact that the main section of the A1 fast link to Jerusalem which will include tunnels and bridges, is stuck due to the Greens appeal to the Supreme Court, the railways do not rest on their laurels, and published this week the following Tender #HN/KB/05/09-A contract for carrying out maintenance works of landscape rehabilitation along the alignment of A1’s section A between Anabe junction (from where the line to Modi’in starts) and Latrun.

Works include: plantation, maintenance, and continuous treatment of rehabilitation.

The contract is for 36 months with optional extension of up to additional 18 months.

Latest bidding date: 22.06.09.

Tender #HN/KB/04/09-Completion works at Bnei-Brak station site.
Works include: preparatory dismantling and removal of nuisances, cast concrete works, pavement and painting, earthworks and roadbeds, horizontal drillings to pass through electricity and communication cables, dismantling and demolishing of existing buildings, track sections and sleepers, removal of existing buildings, delivery of transportable buildings, electricity and lighting works, drainage works and drainage canals, design and implementation of temporary traffic arrangements, etc.
The tender consists of 4 structures:
Structure #1 – substructure for tracks at an overall length of 2 km.
Structure #2 – option – substructure for tracks at the intersection with the nearby Hertzliya road (#482).
Structure #3 – transportable buildings; delivery, installation, and development works.
Structure #4 – A lighting system for freight area.
Implementation time: 14 to 17 months.
Latest bidding date: 25.06.09.

Tender #MS/RC/2009/9-Allowance for providing fast intercity mail and packages delivery service through passenger trains.
The contract is for experimental 12 months with optional extensions of up to additional 48 months. Latest bidding date: 30.06.09.

Tender #HN/KB/03/09-Designing and building bridge #10 on the A1 fast link to Jerusalem.
Works include: Designing and building of the bridged section called bridge #10, to be part of the Tel-Aviv-Jerusalem A1 fast rail link, as well as deigning and building of 2 supporting walls- wall #5 supporting the nearby road #1, and supporting wall #8, which supports a planned service road.
The designed bridge #10 itself consists of 11 spans of 45 to 125 meter; the bridge will be 975 m long with a maximum height of 80 m, located above Cedars' Valley at the western entrance to Jerusalem, and between the planned A3 twin-bored tunnels west of the bridge, and A4 twin-bored tunnels east of the bridge.
Works include also receiving building permissions from the proper authorities.
Implementation times: 180 days for design + 36 months for building.
Latest bidding date: 24.09.09.
(Note: This tender shows that the railways are doing their best to carry out any available part of the A1 project; Aharon Gazit).

Tender #MS/RC/2009/4- Allowance for selling kosher hot drinks and light food on trains using carried bags.
The contract is for test running time of 6 months with optional extensions of up to additional 48 months.
Latest bidding date: 21.07.09.