
The Jaffa–Jerusalem railway (also J & J)
is a
railway
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
that connected
Jaffa
Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...
and
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
. The line was built in the
Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem
The Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem (, ; , , ), also known as the Sanjak of Jerusalem, was a district in Ottoman Syria with special administrative status established in 1872.Büssow (2011), p5Abu-Manneh (1999), p39Jankowski & Gershoni (1997), p174 T ...
(
Ottoman Syria
Ottoman Syria () is a historiographical term used to describe the group of divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of the Levant, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Ara ...
) by the French company ''Société du Chemin de Fer Ottoman de Jaffa à Jérusalem et Prolongements'' and inaugurated in 1892. The project was headed by
Joseph Navon, an Ottoman Jewish entrepreneur from Jerusalem, after previous attempts by the British-Jewish philanthropist
Sir Moses Montefiore failed. It is the second railway inaugurated in the
Middle East
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
after the
İzmir–Aydın Railway, which opened in 1856.
The railway was originally built in , later
rebuilt to and then to . The line was operated by the French, the Ottomans and after
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, the British. After its closure in 1948, it was re-opened by
Israel Railways
Israel Railways Ltd. (, ''Rakevet Yisra'el'') is the state-owned principal railway company responsible for all inter-city, commuter, and freight rail transport in Israel. Israel Railways network consists of of track. All its lines are standar ...
in 1949 as the Tel Aviv – Jerusalem railway,
although since 2019 this designation is instead used to refer to the
Tel Aviv–Jerusalem railway – an electrified dual-track railway line constructed during the 21st century that employs extensive bridging and tunneling along a faster, more direct route between the two cities.
History
Early proposals
Sir Moses Montefiore spoke of establishing a railway between
Jaffa
Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...
and Jerusalem in 1838. He met with
Culling Eardley
Sir Culling Eardley Eardley, 3rd Baronet (born Smith; 21 April 1805 – 21 May 1863) was a British Christian campaigner for religious freedom and for the Protestant cause, one of the founders of the Evangelical Alliance.
Early life
Born in Londo ...
, who was also interested in the project, but stated that he would not be part of it if religious institutions would be involved.
In 1856, he contacted the British prime minister,
Lord Palmerston
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865), known as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman and politician who served as prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1855 to 1858 and from 1859 to 1865. A m ...
, and discussed the construction of a railway.
Temple supported the plan, commenting that it would benefit both Britain and Turkey. A meeting was organized with the Ottoman
Grand Vizier
Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...
Aali Pasha upon his visit to London on May 20, 1856, where an agreement on the principles was signed. As a result,
Laurence Oliphant, an author and businessman who became a Member of Parliament in 1865, also put his force behind the project. On December 8, 1856, Count
Paweł Strzelecki
Sir Paweł Edmund Strzelecki (;By Australian English speakers: pɔːl strʌzlɛki (paul struhzLECKi). 20 July 17976 October 1873), also known as Paul Edmund de Strzelecki and Sir Paul Strzelecki, was a Polish explorer, geologist, humanitarian ...
, also involved in the project, sent a message from Istanbul that the Ottoman government was not willing to provide land for the construction, and the project withered.
In 1856, General
Francis Rawdon Chesney
Francis Rawdon Chesney (16 March 1789 – 30 January 1872) was a British general and explorer.
Life
He was a son of Captain Alexander Chesney, an Irishman of Scottish descent who, having emigrated to South Carolina in 1772, served under Lo ...
traveled to Palestine to survey the land for a railway in the company of Sir John McNeil, a railway expert.
After examining two possible routes, he deemed a rail line to Jerusalem too expensive, estimating construction costs at 4,000–4,500 pounds per kilometer. McNeil then proposed a short line from Jaffa to
Lydda
Lod (, ), also known as Lydda () and Lidd (, or ), is a city southeast of Tel Aviv and northwest of Jerusalem in the Central District of Israel. It is situated between the lower Shephelah on the east and the coastal plain on the west. The ci ...
only, and a
macadam
Macadam is a type of road construction pioneered by Scottish engineer John Loudon McAdam , in which crushed stone is placed in shallow, convex layers and compacted thoroughly. A binding layer of stone dust (crushed stone from the original mat ...
road from there to Jerusalem (which would cost only 150 pounds per kilometer).
Chesney did not give up, contacting Sir Arthur Slade, a general in the Ottoman army, who supported the plan for a railway in what is today Iraq. Slade opposed a Jaffa–Jerusalem line, which he believed would benefit England and be against Turkey's interests. Although Montefiore was involved in it, nothing came of Chesney's initiative.
According to another account, Montefiore backed out of the project when Culling Eardley reiterated during a meeting that the railway would serve Christian missionary activity.
On his fifth visit to the Holy Land in 1857, Montefiore brought with him a British railway engineer who proposed the construction of the railway along the
Refa'im Stream, to reduce construction costs and to allow the railway to be close to a source of water. He lost interest in the project in 1862, however, when his wife died on
Rosh HaShana
Rosh Hashanah (, , ) is the New Year in Judaism. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , ). It is the first of the High Holy Days (, , 'Days of Awe"), as specified by Leviticus 23:23–25, that occur in the late summer/early autu ...
.
In 1864, the German-American engineer
Charles Frederick Zimpel proposed building several railways in the Syrian province (including Palestine) to the Ottoman authorities, that would allow the start of construction if Zimpel would be able to gather the necessary funds within half a year.
In 1865 Zimpel published a pamphlet with his own survey of the region, including a French-language map of the planned route, which was very similar to the route used today.
The main differences were two sections near Jaffa and Ramla, changed from the original plan for convenience, that lengthened the line by about 6.5 km. Zimpel spent a year in
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
attempting to gain a concession for the railway's construction, to no avail.
The German architect and city engineer
Conrad Schick
Conrad Schick (1822–1901) was a German architect, archaeologist and Protestantism, Protestant missionary who settled in Jerusalem in the mid-nineteenth century.Perry & Yodim (2004) For many decades, he was head of the "House of Industry" at the ...
, a Jerusalem resident, later published a similar booklet, where he also detailed his own proposal for a railway, which called for a line through
Ramallah
Ramallah ( , ; ) is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the central West Bank, that serves as the administrative capital of the State of Palestine. It is situated on the Judaean Mountains, north of Jerusalem, at an average elevation of abov ...
and
Beit Horon
Beit Horon () is a communal Israeli settlement in the West Bank. Bordering Route 443 between Modi'in and Jerusalem, the biblical pass of Beit Horon (Joshua 10:10), after which it is named, it falls under the jurisdiction of Mateh Binyamin Reg ...
.
A route along the lines of Schick's plan was for a long time considered the most viable, and French engineers conducted an extensive survey to that end in 1874–75.
The concept of a railway to Jerusalem was also thought of by the American writer
James T. Barclay; he envisioned a line from
el-Arish,
Askalon or
Gaza.
Another proposal was made by the engineer Humann, who surveyed the area suggested in 1864 that it would be wise to create a railway to Jerusalem.
Because of perceived British interest in the project,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
and
Austro-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...
also became interested. The Ottoman Empire rejected Montefiore's plan on the assumption that it would mainly serve Christian missionary interests. Nevertheless, the local press reported on the proposed railway in 1872 and praised the Turkish Sultan for his efforts to promote its construction.
The original failure of the Western powers to construct the railway is attributed to the unwillingness of the respective Western governments to allocate funds for the project, despite their political interest.
Financing
The man principally responsible for actually constructing the railroad was
Yosef Navon, a Jewish entrepreneur from Jerusalem.
Navon began to investigate the possibility of constructing a railway in 1885.
His advantage over earlier proposers of a railway was that as an Ottoman subject. Navon's chief partners and endorsers included his cousin
Joseph Amzalak, the Greek Lebanese engineer
George Franjieh, and the Swiss Protestant banker
Johannes Frutiger.
Navon spent three years in
Constantinople
Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
to promote the project and obtain a permit from the Ottoman Empire. On October 28, 1888, he received a 71-year concession (''
firman
A firman (; ), at the constitutional level, was a royal mandate or decree issued by a sovereign in an Islamic state. During various periods such firmans were collected and applied as traditional bodies of law. The English word ''firman'' co ...
'') from the Ottoman authorities that also gave him permission to extend the line to
Gaza and
Nablus
Nablus ( ; , ) is a State of Palestine, Palestinian city in the West Bank, located approximately north of Jerusalem, with a population of 156,906. Located between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, it is the capital of the Nablus Governorate and a ...
.
He also paid 5,000
Turkish lira
The lira (; Currency sign, sign: Turkish lira sign, ₺; ISO 4217, ISO 4217 code: TRY; abbreviation: TL) is the official currency of Turkey. It is also legal tender in the ''de facto'' state of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. One lira i ...
to the Ottomans, and agreed to receive no financial guarantees.
Lacking the capital to proceed, Navon went to Europe in 1889 to find a buyer for the concession, and failed to do so both in England and Germany.
Bernard Camille Collas, a French lighthouse inspector, bought it for a million francs (40,000 pounds). On December 29, 1889, the Jaffa to Jerusalem Railway Company (''Société du Chemin de Fer Ottoman de Jaffa à Jérusalem et Prolongements'') was founded in Paris with Collas as the first director.
The total share capital was four million francs in 8,000 shares.
Navon sat on the
board of directors
A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency.
The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...
, which mostly consisted of French investors.
The company raised 14 million francs, of them 9,795,000 francs (390,000 pounds) from Christian religious followers.
Construction was carried out by the Parisian Company for Public Works and Construction (''Société des Travaux Publiques et Constructions''), at a cost of 10 million francs (400,000 pounds), and was to be completed by April 1, 1893.
Gerold Eberhard, from Switzerland, was selected to be the chief engineer for the project.
While the railway was considered a rare collaboration between Jews, Catholics and Protestants (J. Frutiger),
Jewish publications expressed concerns that the line was not serving Jewish interests. A prominent European Jew, H. Guedella, wrote in ''
The Jewish Chronicle
''The Jewish Chronicle'' (''The JC'') is a London-based Jewish weekly newspaper. Founded in 1841, it is the oldest continuously published Jewish newspaper in the world. Its editor () is Daniel Schwammenthal.
The newspaper is published every Fri ...
'' that the line was funded by "extreme orthodox Catholics", and the Hebrew newspaper ''
Havatzelet'' reported a disappointment that no Jewish backers for the line had been found.
When the project ran out of money, Navon secured more funds from investors in Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. However, by 1892 the line's shares dropped below their nominal value. He tried to raise more funds, including from
Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist and lawyer who was the father of Types of Zionism, modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organizat ...
, although the latter was not interested and wrote that it was a "wretched little line from Jaffa to Jerusalem
hich
Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...
was of course quite inadequate for our needs."
Construction

The groundbreaking ceremony took place on March 31, 1890, in
Yazur
Yazur (, ) was a Palestinian Arab town located east of Jaffa. Mentioned in 7th century BCE Assyrian texts, the village was a site of contestation between Muslims and Crusaders in the 12th-13th centuries.
During the Fatimid period in Palestine, a ...
, attended by the governor of Palestine,
Ibrahim Hakkı Pasha, the Grand Mufti of Gaza, Navon, Frutiger, etc.
The track was chosen to be of , similarly to French minor railways, and was brought in from France and the Belgian manufacturer Angleur.
According to the
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
, the materials for the railroad, as well as the
rolling stock
The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, Railroad car#Freight cars, freight and Passenger railroad car, passenger cars (or coaches) ...
, were bought from the Panama Canal Company owned by
Ferdinand de Lesseps
Ferdinand Marie, Comte de Lesseps (; 19 November 1805 – 7 December 1894) was a French Orientalist diplomat and owner of Main Idea of the Suez Canal, which in 1869 joined the Mediterranean and Red Seas, substantially reducing sailing distan ...
,
although the stamps on the rails suggest that they were created in Belgium, which, according to Anthony S. Travis, disproves the Panama Canal theory. A short gauge section, as well as a meter gauge section with a pier, was laid between the
Port of Jaffa and the Jaffa Station to easily transport materials from the harbor to the railway.
Engineers were brought from Switzerland, Poland, Italy and Austria, while construction workers were brought mostly from Egypt, Sudan and Algiers. Native Palestinian Arabs were also heavily involved in the work, although many were farmers and worked only during certain seasons. Stonemasons from
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...
and
Beit Jala
Beit Jala () is a Palestinian Christian town in the Bethlehem Governorate of Palestine, in the West Bank. Beit Jala is located 10 km south of Jerusalem, on the western side of the Hebron road, opposite Bethlehem, at altitude. In 2017, Be ...
helped construction in the Judean hills. Despite receiving medical treatment, a considerable number of workers died of
malaria
Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...
,
scurvy
Scurvy is a deficiency disease (state of malnutrition) resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, fatigue, and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum d ...
,
dysentery
Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...
and other diseases.
More died of construction accidents, including the process of cutting through rocks on the approach to Jerusalem.
Numerous bridges were built along the line. The shorter ones were of stone, while six of the seven longer ones were iron, supplied by the
Eiffel company.
Water for the railway's operation was taken from wells in Jaffa, Ramla and Bittir, and a spring at Sejed. Bittir also supplied the Jerusalem station with water.
The first test run was made on the railway in October 1890, an event that was attended by some 10,000 onlookers—more than half of the population of Jaffa. The locomotive was a
Baldwin 2-6-0
Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and no trailing wheels. T ...
, one of the first three built for the line, and carried the American and French flags.
The Jaffa–Ramla section was fully opened to the public on May 24, 1891, and a further section to
Dayr Aban
Dayr Aban (also spelled Deir Aban; ) was a Palestinian people, Palestinian Arab village in the Jerusalem Subdistrict, Mandatory Palestine, Jerusalem Subdistrict, located on the lower slope of a high ridge that formed the western slope of a mount ...
was opened on December 4 of the same year.
In Jaffa and Jerusalem, the French railway company sought to build the stations as close as possible to the old cities, while the Ottoman authorities prevented them from doing so, resulting the terminuses' relative distance (for the time) from the city centers.
Despite this, the land that the stations were built on was purchased at very high prices by the railway company.
The first train reached Jerusalem on August 21, but the tracks immediately near the station had not yet been completed.
The first passenger trip between the Jaffa and Jerusalem stations took place on August 27.
Building the railway was a very ambitious undertaking under local conditions. Hundreds of tons of rails were brought from Belgium, coal from Britain and rolling stock from France.
Unloading these materials in Jaffa's primitive harbor was an immense challenge. A report in Railway Magazine of 1902 said:
Vale also wrote that the
sleepers were made of
oak
An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
, laid 50 cm apart, and were 22 cm-wide. The rails weighed 20
kilogram
The kilogram (also spelled kilogramme) is the base unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), equal to one thousand grams. It has the unit symbol kg. The word "kilogram" is formed from the combination of the metric prefix kilo- (m ...
s per meter and were fastened to the sleepers with
spikes
The SPIKES protocol is a method used in clinical medicine to break bad news to patients and families. As receiving bad news can cause distress and anxiety, clinicians need to deliver the news carefully. Using the SPIKES method for introducing and ...
.
1892–1914
The line officially opened on September 26, 1892.
The length of the journey was approximately 3.5
–6 hours, about equal to the same trip on a carriage, and contrary to the original plan, which envisioned a 3-hour trip.
Even so, the opening event received media coverage worldwide.
Yosef Navon, who had already been awarded the
French Legion of Honor
The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was ...
for his involvement in the railway,
received a Turkish medal, and in 1895 or 1896—the title of
Bey
Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas in ...
.
In 1892, the railway posted a financial deficit, with daily gains being about 20% lower than the daily construction expenditures. Freight income made up for about two thirds of the total.
The investors and companies involved in the project were facing difficulties, especially Frutiger's bank, which caused the elimination of Navon's investments. Tourist traffic was lower than expected, and maintenance problems arose.
The trip time was often extended to 6 hours, which only allowed one train per direction per day. A Jerusalem–Jaffa train left in the morning, and returned to Jerusalem in the afternoon.
In ''A Practical Guide to Jerusalem and its Environs'', a guidebook written around that time, E. A. Reynolds-Ball wrote: "It requires only an ordinary amount of activity to jump out and pick the flowers along the line, and rejoin the train as it laboriously pants up the steep ascent — a feat I myself have occasionally performed."

In May 1894, in light of all the problems, the Société du Chemin de Fer Ottoman de Jaffa à Jérusalem et Prolongements went through a new financing initiative and attracted numerous investors. The reorganization paved way for increased efficiency on the line and tourism increased, although Ottoman restrictions on Jewish land purchase and immigration had a negative effect on traffic. There was also a
cholera
Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...
outbreak that hurt tourism. Freight traffic increased by about 50% between 1893 and 1894. In 1895, improvements were made to the track and a bridge was built in Jaffa that became known as the Chelouche Bridge, on the other side of which the
Chelouche family helped found
Neve Tzedek
Neve Tzedek (, ''lit.'' Abode of Justice) is a Jewish neighborhood in southwestern Tel Aviv, Israel. It was the first Judaism, Jewish neighborhood to be built outside the old city of the ancient port of Jaffa. It was founded by a group of 48 J ...
. The railway became profitable by 1897,
however,
Selah Merrill wrote in 1898 that the line was in a state of bankruptcy. Moreover, while the traffic from Jaffa to Jerusalem was high, on the way back there were very few passengers and little freight.
Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist and lawyer who was the father of Types of Zionism, modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organizat ...
visited Palestine in October 1898 and was not impressed by the Jaffa–Jerusalem railway. He did not consider it important to the Zionist enterprise,
although
Zalman David Levontin, another Zionist leader, did, and created a plan to purchase the railway in March 1901.
Jewish settlement in Palestine benefited the railroad in any case. Baron
Edmond de Rothschild
Baron Abraham Edmond Benjamin James de Rothschild (; 19 August 1845 – 2 November 1934) was a French member of the Rothschild banking family. A strong supporter of Jewish settlement in Palestine, his large donations lent significant support to ...
funded several villages along the line, which contributed to its financial development. In Jerusalem,
Boris Schatz founded an arts and crafts school in 1906 to cater to the tourists' souvenir needs,
which later became the prestigious
Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design
Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design () is a public college of design and art located in Jerusalem. Established in 1906 by Jewish painter and sculptor Boris Schatz, Bezalel is Israel's oldest institution of higher education and is considered the ...
.
The line showed an overall growth trend between 1896 and
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, impeded mainly by the
Sixth cholera pandemic which spread to Palestine in 1902 and again in 1912, and the increasingly nationalistic Ottoman authorities.
By 1903, it became clear that more locomotives were needed for the tourist seasons. The railway company ordered a
0-4-4-0
In the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotive wheel arrangement, an 0-4-4-0 is a locomotive with no leading wheels, two sets of four driving wheels, and no trailing wheels. The arrangement is chosen to give the articulation ...
mallet locomotive
A Mallet locomotive is a type of compound locomotive, compound articulated locomotive, articulated steam locomotive, invented by the Swiss engineer Anatole Mallet (1837–1919).
The front of the locomotive is articulated on a bogie. The Compou ...
from
Borsig Borsig is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* (1867–1897), German entrepreneur
* August Borsig (1804–1854), German businessman
* Conrad von Borsig (1873–1945), German mechanical engineer
* Ernst Borsig (1869–1933) ...
of Germany in 1904, which entered service in 1905. Two more came in 1908.
The last such engine, built in 1914, was likely captured by Britain during the war, and never made it to Palestine.
World War I
During the
Sinai and Palestine Campaign
The Sinai and Palestine campaign was part of the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, taking place between January 1915 and October 1918. The British Empire, the French Third Republic, and the Kingdom of Italy fought alongside the Arab Revol ...
of World War I, the railway was taken over by the Turkish and German armies, which adapted it to serve their needs.
The German engineer
Heinrich August Meissner was put in charge of its operations.
While the Jaffa Railway Station served as a military headquarters during the war, the Ottomans did not want to expose the railway itself to British naval bombardment. In early 1915, most of the heavy machinery and equipment was moved to Jerusalem, and later in the same year the Jaffa–Lydda section was completely dismantled. Its rails and sleepers were used in the construction of the
railway to Beersheba
The Railway to Beersheba (, ''Mesilat HaRakevet LiV'er Sheva'') is a railway line that runs from central Israel to the Zin Factories ( Mount Zin) in southern Israel, with a spur to the Be'er Sheva Center Railway Station and branch lines to Ramat Ho ...
. The Lydda–Jerusalem section was re-laid to gauge, and Lydda was connected to the
Hejaz railway via the
Eastern Railway and the
Tulkarm
Tulkarm or Tulkarem (, ''Ṭūlkarm'') is a Palestinians, Palestinian city in the West Bank, the capital of the Tulkarm Governorate of the State of Palestine. The Israeli city of Netanya is to the west, and the Palestinian territories, Palestinia ...
branch of the
Jezreel Valley railway
The Jezreel Valley railway, or the Valley Train (, ''Rakevet HaEmek'' ; ) was a railroad that existed in Ottoman Empire, Ottoman and Mandatory Palestine, British Palestine, New Jezreel Valley railway, reconstituted as a modern railway in Israel ...
.
When the British advanced northwards in November 1917, the railway was sabotaged by Austrian saboteurs from the retreating
Central Powers
The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...
army and most (five) of its bridges were blown up.
The Turks carried away anything that was movable, from railway cars and wooden rails to parts of the stations.
It was however still valuable to the British, as it provided the only viable link from Jerusalem to Egypt, as the roads were in disrepair.
Trestle bridge
A trestle bridge is a bridge composed of a number of short spans supported by closely spaced frames usually carrying a railroad line. A trestle (sometimes tressel) is a rigid frame used as a support, historically a tripod used to support a st ...
s were installed instead of the destroyed iron ones,
and the first British train reached Jerusalem on December 27, 1917.
In February 1918, a
Decauville
Decauville () was a manufacturing company which was founded by Paul Decauville (1846–1922), a French pioneer in industrial railways. Decauville's major innovation was the use of ready-made sections of light, narrow-gauge track fastened to st ...
gauge railway was built from Jaffa to Lydda, with an extension to the
Auja River, the front line at the time.
This extension was furthered to the Arab village
al-Jalil (today the Glilot area), and continued to be used until 1922–23 mainly for transporting construction materials, without locomotives.
Another extension was built from the Jaffa station to the port, which operated until 1928.
A second Decauville line was constructed in Jerusalem, winding around the mountains close to the
Old City, continuing to
al-Bireh
Al-Bireh, al-Birah, or el-Bira (; also known historically as Castrum Mahomeria, Magna Mahomeria, Mahomeria Major, Birra, or Beirothah) is a city in the central West Bank, north of Jerusalem. It is the capital of the Ramallah and al-Bireh Gove ...
in the north. This railway was initiated by
General Allenby after a Turkish counter-attack on the British in Jerusalem, who had recently occupied the city.
Construction began in May 1918 and completed in September of the same year, by which time it was useless because the front had moved northwards. This short line passed in today's
Knesset
The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel.
The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...
and
Biblical Zoo area.
A further narrow gauge extension, at gauge was built by the British from Lydda to
Tira and
Lubban, partly adjacent to the existing Turkish line.
The locomotives used on the railway were converted to gauge by the Turks during the war so that they could be used on the entire network in Palestine. Of them, five survived the battles—two Baldwin 2-6-0s (#3 and #5) and three Borsig 0-4-4-0s (#6–8). Locomotive #3, "Ramleh", was badly damaged, although it was repaired using spare parts of the other broken-down engines. It survived until 1930, although it likely remained unused following the end of the war.
Under the British Mandate

Because the line was still narrow-gauge and incompatible with other British lines, proposals were brought forward to deliver locomotives and coaches from either the Sudan or Australia.
However, the Palestine Military Railways, the British operator now managing the railroad system, decided to rebuild the line to the wider , an operation that lasted between January 27 and June 15.
The final section, between Jaffa and Lydda, was completed in September 1920, and inaugurated in a ceremony attended by
Herbert Samuel, the British High Commissioner, on October 5.
Between the end of the war and 1920, the railway was used almost exclusively for military purposes. However, food was delivered to Jerusalem by the British authorities shortly after the war ended. In June 1919, a civilian passenger service began operating between
Haifa
Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, 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 metropolitan area i ...
and Jerusalem,
and by February 1920, there was an option to travel from Jerusalem to Egypt ''via'' transfer at Lydda.
During this period the Zionist movement had demanded rights to the railway from France, as it was not British property. The British countered by asserting that France was Britain's ally during the war. However all inline civilian operations met with strong French opposition; France disapproved of British civilian control of the Mandate. To the French, Britain's answer was that since the original French line was rebuilt, the line was in fact British property.
Following years of discussion, in April 1920 the civilian
Palestine Railways
Palestine Railways (Arabic: سكة حديد فلسطين; Palestine Railways; Contemporary Hebrew: “Palestine Railways” or ; Present-day Hebrew: “Mandate Railways”) was a government-owned railway company that ran all public railways i ...
took over the line. On October 4, 1922, the two sides signed an agreement whereby Britain would compensate the line's original French operators for
£565,000,
reduced from the original French demand of £1.5 million.
The coastal railway now extended from
El Kantara to Haifa, intersecting the Jaffa–Jerusalem line with a junction at
Lydda
Lod (, ), also known as Lydda () and Lidd (, or ), is a city southeast of Tel Aviv and northwest of Jerusalem in the Central District of Israel. It is situated between the lower Shephelah on the east and the coastal plain on the west. The ci ...
.
In 1921 a luxury on-demand service was initiated between Jerusalem and
Qantara Qanater (plural of Qantara, the Arabic word for bridge) may refer to:
Places Algeria
* El Kantara
* El Kantara District
Egypt
* El Qantara, Egypt, a city on both sides of the Suez Canal
Giza Governorate
* Manshiyat al Qanater
Qalyubia Governor ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
, but it was not popular. It was superseded by a more successful luxury service between Qantara and Haifa on the
coastal railway
The Coastal railway line () is a Main line (railway), mainline railway in Israel, which begins just south of the Lebanon-Israel border on the Mediterranean coast, near the town of Nahariya in Northern Israel and stretches almost the entire Mediter ...
.
The Jaffa-Jerusalem line was maintained and operated by the British military until October 1921 and from then on by the internationally sanctioned British Mandate authorities of Palestine. The High Commissioner treated the line as the core artery of Palestine making an especial effort to ensure that it would remain state property, controlled and managed by the state-run Palestine Railways. However the future of the Jaffa–Jerusalem railway was linked with the prospects of its electrification. The exchanges between High Commissioner Samuel and
Pinhas Rutenberg
Pinhas Rutenberg (, Pyotr Moiseyevich Rutenberg; ; 5 February 1879 – 3 January 1942) was a Russian businessman, hydraulic engineer and political activist. In Russia, he was a member of the Socialist Revolutionary Party and fled due to the Octo ...
– holding the concession for the electrification of Palestine – resulted in perfect agreement: both sought to secure a London-approved government commitment to the line's electrification. Rutenberg declared that electrification of the railways was essential for the successful electrification of the country as a whole. The High Commissioner, writing to the Colonial Office, emphasized that "it is an integral part of the scheme that the Railway between Jaffa and Jerusalem should be electrified and that the electric energy for the line should be supplied by the Concessionaire." Nonetheless, the Colonial Office and the Treasury in London baulked at the prospective investment rejecting the project on grounds of economic feasibility.
On April 1, 1923, ticket costs were significantly reduced, increasing the line's daily usage from tens to hundreds of passengers. However, by the late 1920s the line declined again due to competition from the nearby road which could now be traversed by car or bus.
Tel Aviv – Jerusalem line

During the
1948 Arab–Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...
, the service was stopped. After the war's end, many sections of the line ended up under the Jordanian
Arab Legion
The Arab Legion () was the police force, then regular army, of the Emirate of Transjordan, a British protectorate, in the early part of the 20th century, and then of the Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, an independent state, with a final Ar ...
's control. Following the
1949 Armistice Agreements
The 1949 Armistice Agreements were signed between Israel and Egypt,[Torah
The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...](_blank)
scrolls, arrived at Jerusalem.
Israel Railways
Israel Railways Ltd. (, ''Rakevet Yisra'el'') is the state-owned principal railway company responsible for all inter-city, commuter, and freight rail transport in Israel. Israel Railways network consists of of track. All its lines are standar ...
began regular passenger service on March 2, 1950, from
Tel Aviv North Railway Station, via the Eastern Railway and
Rosh HaAyin
Rosh HaAyin (; ) is a city in the Central District of Israel. It is located in the eastern ravine of the Sharon River, opposite the Samaria Mountains. The city is named after its location at the source of the Yarkon River (“Ras” meaning sou ...
, to Jerusalem. Shortly thereafter, regular service using the railway line leading from southern Tel Aviv too was restored.
Even though in the late 1950s Israel Railways began using diesel locomotives, and repaired the line, it did not convert it to a dual-track configuration and travel time was still high. The
Jaffa Railway Station was abandoned, and the final destination on the coast was changed to Tel Aviv's Beit Hadar Station (the original
Tel Aviv South station), which in turn was changed to the newer Tel Aviv South station, marking the complete dismantlement of the line inside Tel Aviv's urban area. The reasons cited were the fact that the line was causing traffic jams in the city, and the high land value of the area for real estate development. Then-transportation minister
Shimon Peres
Shimon Peres ( ; ; born Szymon Perski, ; 2 August 1923 – 28 September 2016) was an Israeli politician and statesman who served as the prime minister of Israel from 1984 to 1986 and from 1995 to 1996 and as the president of Israel from 2007 t ...
was a prime supporter of the cancellation of the line inside the city and worked to create a new station (Tel Aviv South) in an unused plot of land given to Israel Railways by the government in compensation for the areas inside Tel Aviv it gave up.
The railroad suffered numerous terrorist attacks during the 1960s prior to the
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
, especially due to its proximity to the
Green Line and the Arab village
Battir
Battir (, Hebrew: ביתר) is a Palestinian village in the Bethlehem Governorate of the State of Palestine, in the West Bank, 6.4 km west of Bethlehem, and southwest of Jerusalem. In 2017, the village had a population of 4,696.
Battir h ...
. On October 27, 1966, one person was injured from a bomb that was placed along the route.
After a
modern highway was constructed between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, train use declined. In 1995, service was cut to one train a day in each direction. On July 12, 1998, the CEO of Israel Railways, Amos Uzani, decided on the complete closure of the line.
The last train ran on August 14, 1998.
Re-opening (2003–2005)

Uzani petitioned the
Minister of Infrastructure,
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon ( ; also known by his diminutive Arik, ; 26 February 192811 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the prime minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006.
Born in Kfar Malal in Mandatory Palestin ...
to allocate funds for a major repair/reconstruction of the line, but instead the Tel Aviv – Beersheba line was upgraded, with a spur to a new
central railway station near the city's
central bus station.
Meanwhile, several alternatives were analyzed for the restoration of a railway connection between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem:
*Plans S and S1 – repair of the old route with S maintaining the same serpentine route in the mountains between Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem, with S1 including a few small tunnels and curve straightening in the mountain portion.
*Plans G and G1 – a massive repair of the old route, straightening all the curves by digging numerous long tunnels along the route.
*Plans B, B1, B2, M and M1 – construction of a new line from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem via
Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut
Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut ( ''Mōdīʿīn-Makkabbīm-Rēʿūt'') is a city located in central Israel, about southeast of Tel Aviv and west of Jerusalem, and is connected to those two cities via Highway 443. In the population was . The populati ...
and along the path of
Route 443.
*Plans A and A1 – construction of a new line roughly paralleling
Highway 1, with a branch to Modi'in (''see also:
High-speed railway to Jerusalem'').
Plans to build a line alongside Route 443 were shelved due to its route through the
West Bank
The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
. The Municipality of Jerusalem supported Plan G1, while Israel Railways supported Plan S as a quick deployment plan, followed by
A1. In June 2001,
Transportation Minister Ephraim Sneh and Sharon choose to proceed with Israel Railways' proposal.
On September 13, 2003, the Tel Aviv – Beit Shemesh section and
Beit Shemesh Railway Station were re-opened.
In April 2005, the second section was initiated with the opening of the
Malha station, while the remainder of the route to the more centrally-located Khan station was effectively abandoned at the request of the Jerusalem municipality.
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon ( ; also known by his diminutive Arik, ; 26 February 192811 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the prime minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006.
Born in Kfar Malal in Mandatory Palestin ...
and
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...
were present in the opening ceremony.
The renovated line encountered many problems, particularly in the Beit Shemesh–Jerusalem section, and was not considered economically viable. It also cost
NIS 540 million to build, instead of the planned NIS 330 mln. The winding nature of the mountainous, 19th-century era route between Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem, while scenic, restricts trains' speed and type, and Malha station's location within Jerusalem is not considered ideal, being situated in the town's southern outskirts. In late 2006, a decision was passed down to split the service on the line into two—Tel Aviv – Beit Shemesh, and Beit Shemesh – Jerusalem (taking effect on December 30).
This improved conditions and timetable reliability in the first section, which a variety of train types could now traverse, but significantly increased the time between Jerusalem and destinations other than Beit Shemesh,
and the line was re-united in the following seasonal schedule. The rebuilding process itself was also criticized, because a number of historic structures were destroyed, including the original Beit Shemesh and Bittir stations, and a stone bridge.
Work has continued to improve the line between Na'an and Beit Shemesh by straightening curves and replacing
level crossings
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The te ...
with bridges. In February 2009 a crossing between the railway and
Highway 3
The following highways are numbered 3, H-3, PRI-3, AH3, E03 and R3. For roads numbered A3, see A3 roads. For roads numbered M3, see M3 (disambiguation)#Roads, M3. For roads numbered N3, see N3 (disambiguation)#Roads, N3. For roads numbered 3A, see ...
, near
moshav
A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...
Yesodot and the former Nahal Sorek station was replaced with a long railway bridge and a sharp curve immediately following the intersection was straightened. This project may cut down travel time to Beit Shemesh by up to 10 minutes.
Another level crossing several kilometers north near
Hulda was also replaced by a rail bridge. A separate project to straighten and double-track the line between Lod and Na'an was completed in 2012 as part of the upgrade and reconstruction of the
Lod–Beersheba line. The Tel Aviv–Lod section was completely double-tracked by the 1990s and now constitutes part of the
main line of Israel Railways. This section is planned to be widened to quadruple-track in the future and besides trains to Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem, it also serves the lines to
Ashkelon
Ashkelon ( ; , ; ) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District (Israel), Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip.
The modern city i ...
(via Lod and
Rehovot
Rehovot (, / ) is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of .
Etymology
Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu (movement), Bilu movement, proposed the name "Rehovot ...
),
Ben Gurion Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport , commonly known by the Hebrew language, Hebrew-language acronym (), is the main international airport of Israel. Situated on outskirts north of the city of Lod and directly south of the city of Or Yehuda, i ...
, and
Beersheba
Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most p ...
.
The original termini in Jaffa and Jerusalem have been renovated as entertainment centers. The Jaffa station was renovated to such use in 2008,
and the Jerusalem one in 2013. Both stations are disconnected from the rail network and no longer serve as train stations, although a portion of
the first line of Tel Aviv Light Rail passes through railways laid in the same course as a short stretch of the dismantled railway between Jaffa station and Beit Hadar station. Part of the former right of way in Jerusalem has been turned into a
linear park
A linear park is a type of park that is significantly longer than it is wide. These linear parks are strips of public land running along canals, rivers, streams, defensive walls, electrical lines, or highways and Esplanade, shorelines. Examples o ...
in 2012. In 2020 the same was done with part of the former right of way at the other end in Tel Aviv.
In 2020, following the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
and the reduction of train traffic, the line was shut down until further notice. Later,
Israel Railways
Israel Railways Ltd. (, ''Rakevet Yisra'el'') is the state-owned principal railway company responsible for all inter-city, commuter, and freight rail transport in Israel. Israel Railways network consists of of track. All its lines are standar ...
decided not to return and reactivate the line to Jerusalem as a commercial line.
In May 2023, a promotion process began to transform the route from Beit Shemesh to Jerusalem into an intercity train park that includes bike paths and walking paths).
New Tel Aviv–Jerusalem railway
In 2019, the rail service to Jerusalem was complemented by the new
Tel Aviv–Jerusalem railway which was built along the planned A1 route. This new double-tracked and
electrified
Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...
railway terminates at a new underground terminal in central Jerusalem known as
Jerusalem–Yitzhak Navon railway station
Jerusalem–Yitzhak Navon Railway Station (, ''Tahanat HaRakevet Yerushalaim–Yitzhak Navon''; ), originally named Jerusalem–HaUma railway station is an Israel Railways passenger terminal in Jerusalem, located at 6 Shazar Avenue.
The station ...
, conveniently located across from the
central bus station and adjacent to the
Jerusalem Light Rail
The Jerusalem Light Rail (, ''HaRakevet HaKala Birushalayim'', , ''Qiṭār Al-Quds Al-Khafīf'') is a light rail system in Jerusalem. Currently, the Red Line (Jerusalem Light Rail), Red Line is the only one in operation, the first of several ...
. Compared to about 75 minutes between Tel Aviv and southern Jerusalem on the Jaffa–Jerusalem railway, service on the new railway from Tel Aviv to central Jerusalem is much faster, taking approximately half an hour between the two cities, while making an intermediate stop at the
Ben Gurion Airport railway station.
Future connection to Malha
In 2020 Israel Railways began the process of seeking approval from the governmental planning committees for a plan (National Infrastructure Plan No.108) to connect Yitzhak Navon and Malha stations along an underground route beneath Jerusalem. This involves continuing the new railway from Navon station to the southeast in the direction of the Old City, then curve to the southwest near the original
Jerusalem Railway Station, heading towards Malha station. Two additional passenger stations, both of whom underground, are being considered along this route:
Jerusalem–Central (located near the
Davidka Square
Davidka Square () is a public square at the intersection of Jaffa Road, Street of the Prophets, and Pines Street in West Jerusalem. Its official name is ''Kikar Haherut'' (). It features a small memorial to the Davidka, a homemade Israeli Mortar ( ...
), and a station in the vicinity of the original Jerusalem railway station.
Stations
Stations located on the
Israel Railways main line (Nahariya-Haifa-Beersehba-Nahal Tzin) are in Bold.
Original stations
Later stations
Significance and impact
The railway was the largest civil engineering project in the Palestine region at the time, and is considered to be one of the largest such projects completed to this day. It is largely responsible for opening up Jerusalem to modern tourism, and assisted in the growth of the city beyond the
Old City walls.
Selah Merrill, in
Scribner's Magazine
''Scribner's Magazine'' was an American periodical published by the publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons from January 1887 to May 1939. ''Scribner's Magazine'' was the second magazine out of the Scribner's firm, after the publication of ...
, notes that the real significance of the railway's construction wasn't the 86.5 km of track laid, but the fact that it was done in the Ottoman Empire, which according to him had been attempting at all costs to keep out Western civilization.
Land value increased dramatically near the route of the railway, even before its completion.
Despite this, the actual area around the Jerusalem Railway Station did not develop quickly, partly because flat and high areas were preferred for construction.
The line did however assist German construction in Jerusalem in the 1890s, allowing them to bring more construction materials more quickly.
By the start of the 20th century, the
German Colony became an attractive spot for those seeking superior transportation.
In addition, it improved public health in Jerusalem considerably, and allowed further expansion, as it allowed the import of large quantities of fresh water into the city from other aquifers.
Paul Cotterell wrote that "The coming of the railway had a profound effect on Jerusalem. In the first decade of the line's existence the population of the city almost doubled, which is all the more amazing when considering that Jerusalem at this period produced hardly enough wine, vegetables or cattle for its own needs."
In Jaffa, it was a contributing factor to its population growth to 40,000 by 1900,
and had a positive cultural effect.
The line also affected local time arrangement, transforming the clock from oriental (where time was counted in hours from sunrise and sunset) to
railway time
Railway time was the standardised time arrangement first applied by the Great Western Railway in England in November 1840, the first recorded occasion when different local mean times were synchronised and a single standard time applied. The key ...
.
The line prompted
Eliezer Ben Yehuda
Eliezer Ben‑Yehuda (born Eliezer Yitzhak Perlman; 7 January 1858 – 16 December 1922) was a Russian–Jewish linguist, lexicographer, and journalist who immigrated to Jerusalem in 1881, when the Ottoman Empire ruled it. He is renowned as the ...
to write a poem about it, and to coin the words ''Rakevet'' (, "train") and ''Katar'' (, "locomotive") for the
Hebrew language
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and remained in regular use as a first language unti ...
, suggested by
Yehiel Michel Pines and
David Yellin
David Yellin (; March 19, 1864 – December 12, 1941) was an educator, a researcher of the Hebrew language and Hebrew literature, literature, a politician, one of the leaders of the Yishuv, the founder of the first David Yellin College of Educat ...
, respectively.
Immediately after the railway's construction, plans for similar railway projects all over Palestine were presented. On November 9, 1892, after helping build the main line, the engineer George Franjieh proposed a tramway in Jerusalem, which would connect it to
Ein Kerem
Ein Karem (; )Sharon, 2004, p155/ref> also Ein Kerem or Ain Karem, is a historic mountain village southwest of Jerusalem, presently a neighborhood in the outskirts of the modern city, within the Jerusalem District in Israel. It is the site of th ...
and
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...
—only six weeks after the line's official opening. Three weeks later, on November 28, he presented plans for a similar tramway in
Jaffa
Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...
. The plans were never realized because they were perceived not to be economic.
Another plan by Franjieh that was not carried out called for a new water supply system to Jerusalem, which had an inadequate supply for the increased population.
See also
*
Baghdad Railway
Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...
(built 1903–1940), initially a German-Ottoman project
*
Narrow-gauge railway#Similar gauges
*
Rail transport in Israel
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Renovated Jaffa station entertainment center Renovated Jerusalem station entertainment centerIsrael Railways Official Websiteby
Eliezer Ben Yehuda
Eliezer Ben‑Yehuda (born Eliezer Yitzhak Perlman; 7 January 1858 – 16 December 1922) was a Russian–Jewish linguist, lexicographer, and journalist who immigrated to Jerusalem in 1881, when the Ottoman Empire ruled it. He is renowned as the ...
in
HaTzvi (September 30, 1892)
Report on the railway's openingby
Yisrael Dov Frumkin in
Havatzelet (September 29, 1892)
Rail Ticket from Original Jaffa-Jerusalem LineShapell Manuscript Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaffa-Jerusalem Railway
Transport in Jerusalem
1050 mm gauge railways in Mandatory Palestine
1050 mm gauge railways in Israel
Metre-gauge railways in Israel
Standard-gauge railways in Israel
Ottoman railways
Late modern history of Jerusalem
History of Jaffa
Railway lines opened in 1892