The Heletz Railway ( he, מסילת חלץ, ''Mesilat Heletz'') is a 20 km railway in southern

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 ...

which connects the

Railway to Beersheba The Railway to Beersheba ( he, מסילת הרכבת לבאר שבע, ''Mesilat HaRakevet LiV'er Sheva'') is a railroad line that runs from central Israel to the Zin Factories ( Mount Zin) in southern Israel, with a spur to the Be'er Sheva Center R ...

from a point just south of

Kiryat Gat Kiryat Gat, also spelled Qiryat Gat ( he, קִרְיַת גַּת), is a city in the Southern District of Israel. It lies south of Tel Aviv, north of Beersheba, and from Jerusalem. In it had a population of . The city hosts one of the most a ...

to the Lod–Ashkelon railway near

moshav A moshav ( he, מוֹשָׁב, plural ', lit. ''settlement, village'') is a type of Israeli town or settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 an ...

Mavki'im Mavki'im ( he, מַבְקִיעִים, ''lit.'' Breakthroughs) is a moshav in southern Israel. Located near Ashkelon, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The moshav was founded in ...

. The track passes close to moshav

Heletz Heletz ( he, חֶלֶץ) is a moshav in southern Israel. Located between Ashkelon, Kiryat Gat and Sderot, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof Ashkelon Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The moshav was founded in 1950 by im ...

, from which it derives its name.

History

The railway was constructed by

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. Isr ...

in the early 1980s, to provide a shortcut for freight trains from southern Israel headed for the

Port of Ashdod The Port of Ashdod ( he, נמל אשדוד) is one of Israel's three main cargo ports. The port is located in Ashdod, about 40 kilometers south of Tel Aviv, adjoining the mouth of the Lachish River. Its establishment significantly enhanced the ...

. Previously, such trains had to be routed through the Lod Railway Station in central Israel. The railway was once used for some limited passenger service, though today it is used by passenger trains only on an emergency basis—in instances when the Lod – Kiryat Gat section of the Railway to Beersheba is blocked.

Development

The Ashkelon-Beersheba railway which opened in 2015 to the south of the Heletz railway provides an alternate rail connection between the Railway to Beersheba and the Lod-Ashkelon railway. Israel Railways has proposed a plan to extend the Heletz railway from Kiryat Gat to

Tarqumiyah Tarqumiyah ( ar, ترقوميا) is a Palestinian city located 12 kilometers northwest of Hebron, in the southern West Bank, in the Hebron Governorate of the State of Palestine. History Tarqumiyah is an ancient town situated on a rocky hill. Ci ...

in the future as a means of providing a rail connection between the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

and the southern

West Bank The West Bank ( ar, الضفة الغربية, translit=aḍ-Ḍiffah al-Ġarbiyyah; he, הגדה המערבית, translit=HaGadah HaMaʽaravit, also referred to by some Israelis as ) is a landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...

. Standard gauge railways in Israel {{Israel-struct-stub