Good news for the passengers to Jerusalem. Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz signed an order Sunday to allow free travel on the tram to Jerusalem, from Ben-Gurion International Airport to the Navon (Yitzhak Navon) station in Jerusalem during the trial period.

Until now, it was possible to travel only from the Navon station in Jerusalem, to all train stations in Israel and back, free of charge. Following Minister Katz’s decision, it will soon be possible to travel from Ben-Gurion Airport to the Jerusalem station and from Jerusalem to all railway stations in Israel, free of charge, during the entire trial period.

The Ministry of Transportation and Israel Railways week canceled the need for pre-registration for travel on the Jerusalem tram line, which was introduced at the start of the trial period. From now on, it is possible to travel on and off the train line to and from Jerusalem via a Rav Kav smart card, and passengers are no longer required to issue a special travel voucher for the trip.

It should be noted that the tram to Jerusalem, currently operating in a breaking-in period, during which trains are limited to only 400 passengers per trip. The train will continue operating at this stage on the schedule of two trains an hour in each direction, from 6:30AM to 7:30PM, Sunday through Thursday. A total of 54 trains a day. The train data shows that since the start of the train’s trial period, which began on Sukkos, more than 222,000 passengers took the train to Jerusalem.

The Jerusalem express train line is one of the most complex engineering and technological projects ever carried out in Israel. The project includes a double track length of 56 kilometers. Work on the train included the mining of five tunnels, 38 kilometers long and 8 bridges, 7.5 kilometers long. The line passes through a tunnel 11.5 kilometers long, considered the longest in the country, and over a bridge about 100 meters high, and is considered the tallest bridge in Israel.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)