The Haifa–Nazareth railway refers to a planned

tram-train A tram-train is a type of light rail vehicle that meets the standards of a light rail system (usually an urban street running tramway), but which also meets national mainline standards permitting operation alongside mainline trains. This all ...

system in northern Israel, going from

HaMifrats Central railway station HaMifratz Central railway station ( he, תחנת הרכבת מרכזית המפרץ, ''Taḥanat HaRakevet Merkazit HaMifratz'') is an Israeli railway passenger station in Haifa, Israel co-located with the Haifa Bay central bus station. It serves ...

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

Nazareth Nazareth ( ; ar, النَّاصِرَة, ''an-Nāṣira''; he, נָצְרַת, ''Nāṣəraṯ''; arc, ܢܨܪܬ, ''Naṣrath'') is the largest city in the Northern District of Israel. Nazareth is known as "the Arab capital of Israel". In ...

. The system is slated to open in 2027 and have a daily ridership of 100,000 passengers.

History

The initial proposal and planning for the line was made as early as 2007. Plans were submitted by Haifa's development company Yefe Nof and approved by the National Planning Committee in February 2017. Further planning and construction will be managed by the Cross–Israel Highway company. Two tenders have been published for the construction of tunnels and bridges. 6 companies have passed the pre-qualification stage for the tender to build and operate the line.

Route

The inter-city route will start at the

in Haifa, continue through northern

Kiryat Ata Kiryat Ata ( he, קִרְיַת אָתָא; also Qiryat Ata) is a city in the Haifa District of Israel. In it had a population of , 92% of whom were Jewish citizens. History The Early Bronze Age site at Qiryat Ata has been extensively excavate ...

and go along

Highway 79 The following highways are numbered 79: Australia * Calder Highway * Silver City Highway * (South Australia) India * National Highway 79 (India) Iran *Road 79 (Iran), Road 79 Israel *Highway 79 (Israel) Korea, South * National Route 79 (Sou ...

from Somekh Interchange to the end of the highway in Reineh. It will end on Ma'aleh Yitzhak Street in Nof HaGalil, where the urban section will start. The urban section will continue through Nof HaGalil by way of Ma'aleh Yitzhak, and terminate in central Nazareth. Eight interurban stations will be built: two in Haifa (HaMifrats Central railway station and Vulcan Junction), three in Kiryat Ata, as well as one each in Shefa-'Amr, the Yiftachel Interchange, the northern entrance of Nazareth, and an area adjacent to Reineh and

Mashhad Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the List of Iranian cities by population, second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of R ...

. Two municipal stations will be built, one in Nof HaGalil and the other in Nazareth.

Development along the route

Up to nine park and ride facilities will be built along the route.

Possible expansions

An expansion to the Krayot has been proposed, going along Highway 22, to serve the neighborhoods constructed in the 2010s in

Kiryat Bialik Kiryat Bialik ( he, קִרְייַת בְּיַאלִיק, also Qiryat Bialik) is a city in the Haifa District in Israel. It is one of the five Krayot suburbs to the north of Haifa. In it had a population of . The city was named after the poet H ...

Specifications

The train will travel at up to on the inter-city section, and up to on the urban section. There will be 20 stations, ten inter-city and nine urban. The line is expected to serve 12,000 daily passengers when it opens. The cost of construction is expected to be ILS 6.4 billion. The length of the line will be 41km.

References

External links

Project description at the Cross Israel Company

Description at the Yefe Nof website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haifa-Nazareth railway Rail transport in Israel