(06/06/2018)   

Mafex’s trip schedule included meetings with representatives from railway administrations such as Israel Railways, Tel Aviv Metro and Netivei Israel, a public company focused on planning, development and maintenance of the network, among others.

One of Israel’s priorities is the development of railway transport infrastructures, as is stated in the Israel Railways’ Strategic Plan until 2040, which has a budget of 31,200 million euros.

The aim is to promote the use of the railway and have it go up from the current three percent to eight percent, until reaching 306 million trips a year. Some of the planned actions include the extension of the network from 1,230 km to 2,572 km, the increase in the number of stations from 68 to 120, and the investment in rolling stock to increase to 128 the maximum number of trains running simultaneously, 96 of these running at 160 km/h and 32 at 250 km/h.

Works also involve electrification of the whole network; modernisation of tracks, signalling and safety systems; and extension and improvement of control centres. As far as metro and light rail projects are concerned, Tel Aviv Light Rail’s Red line is to be extended, and there will be an investment in Jerusalem’s Green line and Blue line.