Jerusalem Light Rail start date confirmed for this Friday 19 August and it will be free!

Following the concern earlier this week over a last minute delay requested by the Transport Ministry it has been confirmed that the Jerusalem Light Rail in Israel will start taking passengers this Friday morning.  The first trams will roll out at 5:30am and run every 10 to 15 minutes.  A map of the route can be viewed here.


In a surprise announcement CityPass announced that following an agreement with the Transport Ministry, passengers will be able to travel on the light rail for free for the first few months, the Jerusalem Post has reported.


Once charging on the light rail begins passengers will be able to use their Rav-Kav cards on both buses and the trams in Jerusalem, with one price for travel on all vehicles within 1 hour and 15 minutes of first boarding a public transport vehicle.

UPDATE 18/8/11- The Jerusalem Municipality has today confirmed this story, with the following announcement.

"The Jerusalem Municipality is happy to announce that this Friday, 19/08/11, The Light Rail will operate to the city's residents and to take on passengers. Starting from Friday, 14 trains will run along the 23 stations, Mount Herzl, through downtown to Givat Zeev. It is also important to emphasize at this stage of the pilot period, municipal bus lines will continue to run as usual.

 

For the first two weeks of train operations, it was decided that the trip will be free for the welfare and comfort of all residents.

Each train consists of two cars, that can accommodate 450 seated and standing passengers. The train will operate every weekday from 5:30 am to midnight, and Friday 5:30 to 15:00.

Run parallel to the start  of the railway is the continuing the process of approval of the smart traffic lights throughout the city, designed to give priority to train at intersections, and thereby shorten the travel time even more. At the end of the run, with full commercial operation of the train, travel time is expected to end on 42 minutes.

Mayor Nir Barkat, said that''this is a happy day for Jerusalem and its residents. Despite the difficulties of the birth, the transportation system in Jerusalem in the coming months will gradually become a leader in progressive and welfare of residents and visitors.''

Jerusalem Light Rail - Could there be a further delay?

Following the announcement by CityPass that the Jerusalem Light Rail will begin this Friday, it is possible that the start of passenger services could be further delayed.

This follows yesterday's session by the Knesset Economics Committee which delayed the implementation of a law that regulates light rail systems.  It was expected that this law would have to be implemented before the light rail could start taking passengers.  This delay was at the request of the Transportation Ministry to allow for a further month of testing to the ticketing mechanism. 

In addition the light rail is still missing a major safety permit called the Independent Safety Assessment, which is awarded by an international body. The train cannot carry passengers without the permit.

However, CityPass have denied that the delayed law would have any affect on operations.

How to get your Rav-Kav Smart Card for the Jerusalem Light Rail and buses

Egged have started accepting the Rav-Kav card in Jerusalem as well as in the Gush Dan, Karmiel, the Sharon Region, Rehovot and the north.

The Rav-Kav card is an electronic smart ticket which allows passengers to pay for tickets in advance and to use different routes.  The Rav-Kav card which passengers need to register for is intended also to be used on the Jerusalem Light Rail and Egged buses will allow passengers to either pay for season tickets or pay for a number of rides in advance and to recharge the card before they travel.

An application form for the Rav-Kav card can be found here and costs 10 shekels in addition to the cost of further tickets and can be purchased from:

Jerusalem	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Jerusalem CBS (opposite to platform No.22)	Sun - Thu 07:00- 20:00 | Fri 07:00 - 14:00
Jerusalem, Rav Shefa Mall (2nd floor)	Sun - Thu 14:00- 21:00 | Fri 09:00 - 14:00
Jerusalem, Ramot Community Center (Matnas)	Sun - Thu 12:00- 21:00 | Fri 08:00 - 13:00
Jerusalem, Giv'at Masu'a	Sun - Thu 12:00- 21:00 | Fri 09:00 - 13:00

 

Combined with City-Pass
Neve Ya'akov	Sun - Thu 11:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Ma'ale Adumim Mall	Sun - Thu 12:00- 20:00 | Fri 09:00 - 14:00
Giv'at Ze'ev	Sun - Thu 12:00- 20:00 | Fri 09:00 - 13:00
Sha'arei Tsedek Hospital	Sun - Thu 08:00- 16:00
Emek Refa'im /Rachel Imeinu	Sun - Thu 10:00- 17:00 | Fri 09:00 - 14:00
Gilo - the Community Center	Sun - Thu 12:00- 20:00
Talpiyot - opposite to the mall	Sun - Thu 09:00- 17:00

South & Center
Tel Aviv CBS - Ticket Office (6th floor)	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Kfar Saba CBS - Ticket Office	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Herzliya CBS	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Holon, 4 Weizman St	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Holon,  Dar Gat Mall	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Rishon le-Tsiyon, the old CBS - 63 Herzl St	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Rishon le-Tsiyon, the new CBS	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Rehovot CBS	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00

Haifa & South	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Haifa Merkazit Hof ha-Karmel	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Haifa Merkazit ha-Mifratz	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Karmi'el Terminal	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00
Kiryat Hayim - "Ha-Tzrif" Junction	Sun - Thu 07:00- 19:00 | Fri 07:00 - 13:00

Jerusalem Light Rail to start this Friday

Jerusalem's light rail is to start this coming Friday, 19 August CityPass have announced, subject to final approval by the Independent Safety Assessment

CityPass will deploy hundreds of workers during the first few weeks of the train’s operation in order to explain the automatic ticketing system and answer passenger questions.

CityPass would have liked a further delay of a month to update the traffic lights along the route to give preference to the tram.  At present only  20 of the 100 traffic lights along the train’s route have been updated.  This means that at peak travel times, the train will also suffer from traffic jams, and it could take up to three times as long for a train to complete the route from Pisgat Ze’ev to Mount Herzl as it would on the regular route when the traffic lights are updated. It is estimated it would take two or three months for the company to update the remainder of the traffic lights.

A major overhaul of the bus lines, which would change more than 50 routes, was planned to be rolled out simultaneously with the light rail but was pushed off until the traffic lights are updated and the train runs on a normal schedule.

When the traffic lights are updated, trains will depart every five minutes. For the first few months, trains will depart every 10 to 15 minutes.

Jerusalem Light Rail start delayed again, Call for greater enforcement of bus lanes

Jerusalem Light Rail start delayed again

The Jerusalem Light Rail is unlikely to be able to start running on its scheduled start date of August.  With just two months until the tram network is due to start operating the Jerusalem Post says that the start date is unlikely to be met and may slip back to October or November.

The latest delay in the start of operations is being caused by a number of factors including the fact that traffic lights have yet to be reprogrammed by CityPass, along the route to give priority at intersections to the new trains.  At the beginning of  June only 4 out of 50 traffic lights had been reprogrammed.

The light rail is also suffering from a dispute with drivers, who are threatening to strike.



Call for greater enforcement of bus lanes

Public transport campaigners in Israel are calling for greater enforcement of bus lanes, so that buses can move more speedily and thus attract increased numbers of passengers the Jerusalem Post has reported.  The campaigners are calling on the police to ensure they enforce the law so that motorists who illegally use bus lanes are penalised.

Jerusalem Light Rail start date delayed again, Tender launched for new north-south rail line in Israel

Jerusalem Light Rail start date delayed again

Globes are reporting that there could be a further delay of several more weeks to the start of operations on Jerusalem's Light Rail line, caused by safety faults in the control system.  These faults were discovered during the testing last week, ahead of the Light Rail line being granted a safety permit.

As a result the proposed April start for passengers to use the tram in the centre of Jerusalem along Jaffa Street will not be allowed for several more weeks meaning that the April 17 launch will be delayed, while CityPass corrects the fault.  The start of full operations is still scheduled for 8 August.  The safety testing is being carried out by TUV Nord Group.

Further delays to the start of operations could still be caused by a dispute between CityPass and Egged over how the revenue from the tram tickets will be shared, and whether passengers will be able to purchase combined tram-bus tickets for travel in Jerusalem.


Israel Rail launches new Tender for a new eastern Israel north-south rail line

Israel Rail has requested bids for a study into a proposed new north-south rail line in Israel that will travel through Lod.  The 65km railway would connect the four metropolitan areas of Israel while bypassing Tel Aviv.

Tel Aviv Light Rail System - What is going on ?

For over five years now the Government and local municipalities in Greater Tel Aviv have been planning a light rail scheme, similar to that being built by CityPass in Jerusalem which is due to open later this year.

On December 31 2006, the contract to build and operate the first line of the Tel Aviv Light Rail was awarded to the Metro Transport Solutions Consortium.  The first line known as the Red Line is planned to be a 22km line from Petah Tikva through Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv and Jaffa to Bat Yam.

The original plan was to construct the line by 2012 or 2013 at an estimated cost of 11 billion shekels.  However, because of continued financial wrangling and arbitrations construction is no where near beginning.  Therefore in October 2010 the Ministry of Finance cancelled the franchise with the Metro Transport Solutions Consortium and decided that the Israeli Government would operate the project in-house.

This caused  the Metro Transport Solutions Consortium to file a 2 billion shekel lawsuit against the Israeli Government.

The Israeli Government has argued that since the contract was signed at the end of 2006 the Metro Transport Solutions Consortium has continued to demand many ammendments to the franchise agreement which would have "wiped out the financial and quality advantages of the scheme for Israel".

We await the outcome of the lawsuit and how the Government proposes to develop any future light rail scheme in Tel Aviv.