High-speed railway to Jerusalem

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The high-speed railway to Jerusalem (also Plan A1 and Railway 29) is a railway line from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Israel, under construction since 2001. It is set to be completed in 2016–17. It will be the first high-speed rail in Israel by definition (although it will employ regular locomotives) and will serve as the main rail link between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, complementing the old Jaffa–Jerusalem railway. The railway will span about 55 km, and will be the first electrified heavy railway line in Israel.

Contents 1 Planning 2 Construction 2.1 Bridges and tunnels 3 Difficulties and controversies 3.1 Financial difficulties 3.2 Dirt dumpage 3.3 Yitla Stream 4 Stations 4.1 Modi'in branch 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Planning

After the termination of service from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on the old Jaffa–Jerusalem line in 1998, an urgent need arose to create a rail link from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Between 2000 and 2001, several alternatives were proposed:^[1]

• Plans S and S1 - minor repairs of the old route (S), or one that also includes a few short tunnels and curve straightening (S1).
• Plans G and G1 - a massive repair of the old route, straightening all the curves by excavating numerous long tunnels along the route (16 km of tunnels in total). G was meant to have a total of 4–6 km tunnels. G1 was meant to continue into central Jerusalem and terminate in an underground station at Independence Park.^[2]
• Plans B, B1, B2, M and M1 - construction of a new line from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem via Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut within or near Road 443.
• Plans A and A1 - construction of a new line between the cities nearby Highway 1, with a branch to Modi'in. These plans were recommended by the bodies that originally published them (A in 1994 and A1 in 1997 and 2000).^[3]

Plans to build a line adjacent to Road 443 were discarded immediately, due to its being inside the West Bank. The Municipality of Jerusalem supported Plan G1,^[2] while Israel Railways supported Plan S as a quick deployment plan, followed by A1. On June 13, 2001, Transportation Minister Ephraim Sneh and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon choose to proceed with Israel Railways' plan.^[4] One of the reasons was environmentalists' opposition to G1, due to the route passing in the middle of a nature reserve. Plan B2 was used for the branch to Modi'in, which is part of a longer future line which will eventually extend from Modi'in to Rishon LeZion along right-of-way reserved for it during the construction of Highway 431.

It is not clear whether the new A1 railway to Jerusalem will be electrified, as Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB), the company then advising Israel Railways, thought it unnecessary after checking the option. A Dutch company has been appointed to re-evaluate this option.^[5]

[edit] Construction

Construction began in 2001 and was divided into multiple sections:

• Tel Aviv – Ben Gurion Airport (western part of Railway 27) – the line branches off from the Tel Aviv – Lod section between the Ganot and Shafirim interchanges on Highway 1, and connects to Ben Gurion's Terminal 3. Construction was completed in 2004 and regular service started in October of that year.
• Ben Gurion Airport – Kfar Daniel (eastern part of Railway 27) – from terminal 3 the line continues to the southeast, passing over a new 550 m bridge over Highway 1 towards the Anava Interchange where it branches off into Modi'in. The line also connects with the Eastern Coastal Railway near the Lod interchange providing a connection between the airport and the Lod Railway Station to the south. Construction started in 2004 and ended in 2007.
• Kfar Daniel – Sha'ar HaGai
• Sha'ar HaGai and Mevaseret Zion - section 'C' - the tender was awarded in September 2009 and preliminary site work began November 2009 with expected overall completion in 2015/2016.^[6][7] By far the most complicated part of the project, it involves passing over a 1.2 km bridge, the longest in Israel (completed in 2008), and excavating several tunnels, one of which will also be the longest in Israel. This tunnel will be composed of a pair of parallel tunnels, 11 km in length each, and bored using TBMs.
• Mevaseret Zion - Jerusalem Binyanei HaUma Railway Station, Jerusalem – section 'D' - includes two bridges, two single-track tunnels 800-900 meters in length, and a 2.9-kilometer tunnel. Completion is estimated to take four years.^[6]

[edit] Bridges and tunnels

Below is a breakdown of the tunnels, bridges and underpasses found along the route.

Name	Location	Intersection	Type	Length	Status
	Shafirim Interchange	Under Road 412	Underpass		Completed
	Between Hemed and Tzafria	Under Road 4404	Underpass		Completed
Bridge 1	Ben Gurion Interchange	Above Highway 1	Bridge	550–600 m	Completed
	Between Lod Interchange and Lod Bridge Junction	Over Eastern Coastal Railway and Highway 40	Bridge		Completed
	East of Ginaton Junction	Over Road 443	Bridge		Completed
	Daniel Interchange	Over Highway 6	Bridge		Completed
Bridge 4	Near Sha'alvim	Over entrance road to Sha'alvim	Bridge	120 m	Completed
Bridge 5	Near Sha'alvim		Bridge	180 m	Completed
Bridge 6	Valley of Ajalon	Over Highway 3 and the valley	Bridge	1,200–1,250 m	Completed
Tunnel 1	Canada Park and Mevo Horon	Under the park	Tunnel
Bridge 7	West of Nataf	Over Yitla Stream	Bridge
Tunnel 2	Near Nataf		Tunnel
Bridge 8[8]	West of Nataf	Over Yitla Stream	Bridge	150 m
Tunnel 3	Bab al-Wad, Abu Ghosh	Under Mount HaRu'ah, Mount HaHagana, Abu Ghosh	Tunnel	11 km
Bridge 9[9]	Mevaseret Zion		Bridge
Tunnel 3a	Mevaseret Zion		Tunnel
Tunnel 4	Jerusalem—from near Ginot Saharov to Binyanei HaUma[10]	Under Lifta	Tunnel	2.4 km

[edit] Difficulties and controversies

[edit] Financial difficulties

Due to the extremely high cost of the project, it faced financial difficulties from the start, despite being Israel Railways' flagship project. The initial cost was estimated at NIS 2.8 bln., although after a re-evaluation in 2008, it rose to about NIS 6 bln, and required NIS 2 bln. more to be invested by the Israeli government.^[11] This has caused a significant delay in starting the tunneling stage of the project pending the evaluation by the Ministry of Transport which eventually showed that, while the costs rose sharply, forecasted demand rose sharply as well. The ministry further decided to indefinitely postpone implementing the plans for a future link from the railway to Modi'in (B2) east to Jerusalem.^[12] On December 2, 2008 the Israeli cabinet instructed Israel Railways to continue with the project despite the higher estimate and the ministry of finance to allocate the additional NIS 3 bln coverage necessary to proceed with construction.

[edit] Dirt dumpage

A notable stumbling block, still unresolved as of January 2008, is the issue of where to put the excess dirt dug up in the tunnels. Temporary mounds have been created, but this method, aside from hurting the environment, will be insufficient for the main tunnel (Tunnel 3).^[13] Israel Railways has also come to odds with the engineering company, Ami Mtom, responsible for the project involving additional payments to be made due to changes made to the original design of the railway, which is likely to further delay progress.^[14] Additional dirt will be dumped in a new landfill on a site next to the Sha'ar HaGai interchange between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.^[15]

[edit] Yitla Stream

One of the main environmental issues with the project, and a source of opposition from green organizations, is the railway's passage through the Yitla Stream, a national park and Biblical location mentioned in the Book of Joshua. The greens' campaign is led by Ze'ev HaCohen from the Parks Authority and Avraham Shaked from the Society for the Protection of Nature (SPNI), who are proposing an alternate design that would replace the currently proposed tunnels 2 and 3 with a single, combined longer and deeper tunnel that will pass under the stream, based on the opinion of the German tunneling expert Alfred Haack.^[8] According to them, their proposal, opposed by Israel Railways, will save money in the long run.

The main points of contention with the current design are a 150 m rail bridge (Bridge 8) over the stream, and a 200 m paved access road that will be created to aid the construction work.^[16] While Israel Railways and the Ministry of Finance claim to oppose the longer combined tunnel proposal on financial and construction-time related reasons, Globes columnist Moshe Lichtman argues that the opposition is based on a combination of ego and the unwillingness, in principle, to change construction plans at the last minute.^[15] Nevertheless, in March 2009 the Jerusalem area regional infrastructure planning commission recommended against the environmentalists' plan and choose to proceed with Israel Railways' original two-tunnel plan. The plan was then forwarded to the National infrastructure planning commission for a final decision on the matter. On April 5, 2009, the SPNI submitted a petition with thousands of signatures against the line, including that of Prof. Robert Aumann.^[8]

On June 23, 2009, the environmentalists' petitions were rejected, and the planning committee decided that there would be a bridge over the Yitla Stream, in line with the previous recommendations of the Sadan Committee. Israel Railways and the Jerusalem Municipality supported the decision.^[17][18] The decision in favor of a bridge over the stream was ratified by the National Planning Committee in August 2009, subject to design changes to be made to the bridge site to make it more environmentally-friendly.^[19]

[edit] Stations

The following stations will be found on the line:

• Ben Gurion Airport Railway Station – located within Terminal 3 of the Ben Gurion International Airport.
• Jerusalem Binyanei HaUma Railway Station – when built, will be located next to the Jerusalem Central Bus Station, 80 meters underground. The station will also double as a bomb shelter.

After the completion of the project, there are plans to connect the second station with the Jerusalem Malha station through a continuation of the tunnel from Mevaseret Zion.

[edit] Modi'in branch

The Modi'in branch was completely opened on April 1, 2008 and includes two stations: Pa'atei Modi'in and Modi'in Center. The latter is underground, like the future Jerusalem Binyanei HaUma station, therefore making it possible to continue the line further into the city and beyond. In the past, various government panels have expressed the desire to continue this line, but until a permanent agreement with the Palestinian Authority is reached, this would not be possible, as a continuation of the railway from the Modi'in branch northwards or eastwards will have to pass through the West Bank.

[edit] See also

v • d • e Railways in Israel Israel Railways Coastal railway line Nahariya · Akko · Kiryat Motzkin · Kiryat Haim · Hutzot HaMifratz · Lev HaMifratz · Haifa Center · Haifa Bat Galim · Haifa Hof HaCarmel · Atlit · Binyamina · Caesarea-Pardes Hanna · Hadera West · Netanya · Beit Yehoshua · Herzliya Jezreel Valley railway (planned) Haifa East · Nesher · Kfar Yehoshu'a · Kfar Barukh · Afula · Beit She'an HaSharon circular railway Bnei Brak · Petah Tikva Kiryat Aryeh · Petah Tikva Sgula · Rosh HaAyin North · Hod HaSharon · Kfar Sava · Ra'anana East · Ra'anana West Tel Aviv–Lod section Tel Aviv University · Tel Aviv Center · Tel Aviv HaShalom · Tel Aviv HaHagana · Kfar Habad · Lod Ganei Aviv · Lod Tel Aviv–Ashdod railway (under construction) Holon Junction · Holon Wolffsohn · Bat Yam Yoseftal · Rishon LeZion West · Yavne West · Rishon LeZion HaRishonim Railway to Jerusalem Ramla · Beit Shemesh · Biblical Zoo · Jerusalem Malha High-speed line to Jerusalem/Modi'in Ben Gurion Airport · Pa'atei Modi'in · Modi'in Center · Jerusalem Binyanei HaUma Lod–Ashkelon railway Be'er Ya'akov · Rehovot · Yavne East · Bnei Darom (planned) · Ashdod Ad Halom · Ashkelon Railway to Beersheba Kiryat Mal'akhi (planned) · Kiryat Gat · Lehavim-Rahat · Be'er Sheva North · Be'er Sheva Center · Dimona Ashkelon-Be'er Sheva railway line (planned) Sderot · Netivot · Ofakim Other planned lines: Eastern coastal railway · Railway to Karmiel · Rishon LeZion–Modi'in railway · Railway to Eilat · Railway to Arad · Heletz railway (existing)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Project page on Moriah - the company for Jerusalem's development (Hebrew)