Beit Shemesh railway station is an
Israel Railways
Israel Railways Ltd. , dba Israel Railways ( he, רַכֶּבֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Rakevet Yisra'el''), is the state-owned principal railway company responsible for all inter-city, commuter, and freight rail transport in Israel. Isra ...
station in
Beit Shemesh,
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
, on the
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the ...
–
Lod–
Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
line. The station is located near the northern industrial zone of Beit Shemesh.
History
Beit Shemesh Station was built under
Ottoman rule with the construction of the
Jaffa-Jerusalem railway, the first rail line in Palestine. The station has been known under four different names: its original name, Dayr Aban, which was changed during the late Mandatory period to Artuf, and later to Hartuv, the name of a nearby Jewish
moshava
A moshava ( he, מושבה, plural: ''moshavot'' , lit. ''colony'') was a form of rural Jewish settlement in Ottoman Palestine, established by the members of the Old Yishuv since late 1870s and during the first two waves of Jewish Zionist im ...
. The location of the station remained unchanged throughout this period, at a point that now lies on the northern border of the city of Beit Shemesh, near
Highway 38
The following highways are numbered 38:
Australia
* A38 (Sydney)
Canada
* Alberta Highway 38
* Ontario Highway 38 (former)
* Saskatchewan Highway 38
Czech Republic
* I/38 Highway; Czech: Silnice I/38
Germany
* Bundesautobahn 38
India
* N ...
.
The station was closed to passenger trains in July 1998 due to the poor condition of the tracks. During the upgrade of the Jerusalem line, the station was also redesigned, and the line connected to the
Gush Dan
Gush Dan ( he, גּוּשׁ דָּן, ''lit.'' "Dan bloc") or Tel Aviv metropolitan area ( he, מֶטְרוֹפּוֹלִין תֵּל אָבִיב) is a conurbation in Israel, located along the country's Mediterranean coastline. There is no sing ...
train system. The upgrade of the tracks was conducted in two parts: first, which was completed on September 13, 2003, included running track to Beit Shemesh, and the second, concluded on April 9, 2005, extended the line to Jerusalem. At the end of 2006, service on the line was split in two and the Beit Shemesh station became an intermediate station for transferring between the Tel Aviv-Beit Shemesh line and the Beit Shemesh-Jerusalem line. The split line was cancelled on 2014, though the line was later re-split in 2017.
Due to the
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
Pandemic and the ensuing shutdown of train services, only the Tel Aviv-Beit Shemesh portion of the line was reinstated when train operations were resumed.
Train services to Jerusalem are now handled only by the electrified
Tel Aviv–Jerusalem railway
The Tel Aviv–Jerusalem railway (also higher-speed railway to Jerusalem, Plan A1, and Railway 29) is a railway line connecting the city of Tel Aviv in Israel with Jerusalem. The line serves as the main rail link between Tel Aviv and Jerus ...
.
Line split
When the line to Jerusalem was completed on April 9, 2005, rail service on the Tel Aviv-Beit Shemesh line was on
IC3
The IC3 (or class MF) is a Danish-built high-comfort medium/long distance diesel multiple-unit train. The sets were built by ABB Scandia (later purchased by Adtranz, which itself was subsequently acquired by Bombardier Transportation) in Rand ...
trains only, because this was the type of train with the smallest distance between the
bogies
A bogie ( ) (in some senses called a truck in North American English) is a chassis or framework that carries a wheelset, attached to a vehicle—a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transp ...
. Following numerous cracks in the bogies as a result of the winding track and steep slope and the high cost of operation arising from repair of the bogies, it was decided to use only two IC3 systems on the track to Jerusalem. In 2006, the track was split into two for a trial period: Tel Aviv-Beit Shemesh and Beit Shemesh-Jerusalem. Following the split it was attempted to operate double-decker passenger cars until Beit Shemesh, and IC3 systems until Jerusalem. Due to the prolonged wait times in Beit Shemesh—45 minutes in the direction of Tel Aviv and 15 minutes in the direction of Jerusalem—there was a significant decline in the number of rail passengers to and from Jerusalem.
In 2007, it was decided to move the Tel Aviv-Beit Shemesh transfer to
Nahal Sorek
Naḥal Sorek ( he, נחל שורק, translation=Brook of Sorek; ar, وادي الصرار, translit=Wadi al-Sirar), also Soreq, is one of the largest, most important drainage basins in the Judean Hills. It is mentioned in the Book of Judges 16:4 ...
, instead of the transfer at
Na'an
Na'an ( he, נַעַן) is a kibbutz near the city of Rehovot in Israel. Located within the Central District, it falls under the jurisdiction of Gezer Regional Council and borders the villages of Ganei Hadar, Ramot Meir and Sitria. Founded i ...
. As a result, travel time was lengthened by three minutes for trains travelling on the line in all directions, but the waiting time for the train change to and from Jerusalem was reduced to five minutes. With the reduction of travel times, the number of passengers gradually began to rise.
The line split was cancelled on March 15, 2008.
In 2017 the line split was reinstated with waiting times of between 5 and 31 minutes. A few trains per day run direct.
In 2021, all
IC3
The IC3 (or class MF) is a Danish-built high-comfort medium/long distance diesel multiple-unit train. The sets were built by ABB Scandia (later purchased by Adtranz, which itself was subsequently acquired by Bombardier Transportation) in Rand ...
trains are to be scrapped simultaneously with the introduction of
Siemens Desiro
The Siemens Desiro (, , ) is a family of diesel or electric multiple unit passenger trains developed by Siemens Mobility, a division of the German Siemens AG conglomerate. The main variants are the Desiro Classic, Desiro ML, Desiro UK and the la ...
electric multiple units. This would render the old line to Jerusalem inoperative unless either a replacement train is to be found or the line undergoes a massive renovation.
Structure of the station
The station includes a large passenger hall, an underground crossing between tracks, a
side platform
A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platform ...
, and an
island platform
An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
.
Train service
From Sunday to Thursday, a train leaves the station every hour to Tel Aviv.
On Fridays and holiday eves, trains leave the station every hour to Tel Aviv.
On
Saturday
Saturday is the day of the week between Friday and Sunday. No later than the 2nd century, the Romans named Saturday ("Saturn's Day") for the planet Saturn, which controlled the first hour of that day, according to Vettius Valens. The day ...
Nights and the night after holidays, a single train leaves the station in the direction of Tel Aviv.
References
External links
Israel railways website
{{coord, 31, 45, 26.77, N, 34, 59, 27.15, E, display=title
Beit Shemesh
Railway stations in Jerusalem District
Railway stations opened in 2003
Buildings and structures in Jerusalem District