(PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE)

The Jerusalemites who passed the city center on Tuesday, 14 Shevat, near Binyanei Ha’uma, received a happy surprise. The high fence surrounding the new Jerusalem-Yitzhak Navon train station was dismantled and pedestrians were finally able to see the street level of the deepest train station in Israel.

For years, the gated station was a focus of interest, and many residents tried to peek through it to see what was going on at the station’s construction site. Now, with the completion of the work at the station, the impressive entrance plaza has been exposed.

The new railway station in Jerusalem, named after the late President Yitzhak Navon, is the deepest train station in Israel and is 80 meters below the current Shazar Street. Between the entrance hall and the docks, three large and fast elevators are expected to operate, including 33 passengers per elevator and 3 escalators (one heading down, one heading up and one changing depending on time of day). The escalator and elevator systems will be used by the public to access the station from Shazar and Jaffa Streets.

The fast line to Jerusalem is an electric railway line that runs between the Haganah station in Tel Aviv and a new station in Jerusalem near Binyanei Ha’uma. The high-speed line includes an existing railway route from Tel Aviv to Modi’in to the Annaba Interchange; As well as a new railway route in the midst of the construction process from the Annaba interchange to the Binyanei Ha’uma Station. The line is designed for passenger trains at up to 160 KPH (100 MPH), and it will allow a 30-minute drive between the Haganah station in Tel Aviv and the new Jerusalem station.

The project includes the mining of five tunnels (4 double and one single) with a cumulative length of about 37 km (23 miles), and between them are built 8 bridges (most of them double) with a cumulative length of about 6.5 km (4 miles).

As part of its preparations for operating the station, Israel Railways has recruited 13 senior officials: station manager Eran Ben David, a deputy station manager, 7 senior shift managers, 3 shift managers and a maintenance manager.

The new express train is expected to be operational before Pesach as reported by YWN-ISRAEL.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo Credit: Israel Railways Spokesman’s Office)