Israel Railways

Israel Railways Ltd. 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 standard gauge but some were originally built to other gauges and later regauged. Electrification began in 2018 with the new line to Jerusalem and there are plans to electrify the entire network at 25 kV 50 Hz supplied via overhead line. The network is centered in Israel's densely populated coastal plain, from which lines radiate out in many directions. In 2018, Israel Railways carried 68 million passengers.
Unlike road vehicles and city trams, Israeli heavy rail trains run on the left hand tracks, matching neighboring Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries, whose formerly connected rail networks were constructed by British engineers. Those lines that formerly crossed Israel's borders were severed during the 1948 Palestine war and there are no international train lines or services to or from Israel.
Until 1980, the company's head office was located at Haifa Center HaShmona railway station. Tzvi Tzafriri, the general manager of Israel Railways, decided to move the head office to Tel Aviv–Savidor Center railway station. In 2017, the company's head office was moved to a new campus built on the grounds of the Lod railway station.

Stations

There are 66 stations on the Israel Railways network, with almost all of the stations being accessible to disabled persons, with public announcement and passenger information systems, vending machines and parking.

Bicycle policy

Bicycles are permitted on trains in designated coaches.
Israel Railways encourages people to use bicycles by building a double-deck parking for bicycles in every railway station and by allowing people to take bicycles with them on trains to minimise the need for private cars.

Smoking

In Israel, smoking is prohibited in public enclosed places and in commercial areas. Although smoking in railway stations is allowed in designated areas, the sale of tobacco from automated vending machines is prohibited.

List of stations

Lines

Israel Railways currently operates 15 passenger service lines. These can be broadly subdivided into inter-city lines, which connect two or more of Israel's major metropolitan centres, usually skipping some of the intermediate stations, and commuter lines, centered on one metropolitan area and serving all stations on the line. However, Israel Railways no longer officially uses this classification.
Some services were partially or fully suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and electrification works.

Inter-city lines

Commuter lines

Metropolitan core	Service	Terminus	Intermediate stops	Terminus	Infrastructure
Haifa	Nahariya–Binyamina	Nahariya		Binyamina inter-city to Modi'in →	Coastal railway
Haifa	Karmiel–Haifa	Karmiel		Haifa–Hof HaCarmel	Karmiel–Acre railway Coastal railway
Haifa	Beit She'an–Atlit	Beit She'an		Atlit	Jezreel Valley railway Coastal railway
Tel Aviv	Binyamina–Ashkelon †	Binyamina		Ashkelon commuter to Beersheba →	Coastal railway Ayalon railway Jaffa–Jerusalem railway Lod–Ashkelon railway
Tel Aviv	Herzliya–Ashkelon †	Herzliya		Ashkelon	Sharon railway Eastern railway Yarkon railway Ayalon railway Tel Aviv–Bnei Darom railway Lod–Ashkelon railway
Tel Aviv	Netanya–Beit Shemesh ‡	Netanya		Beit Shemesh	Coastal railway Ayalon railway Jaffa–Jerusalem railway
Tel Aviv	Netanya–Rehovot †	Netanya		Rehovot	Coastal railway Ayalon railway Jaffa–Jerusalem railway
Tel Aviv	Tel Aviv–Modi'in	Tel Aviv–University ← inter-city to Nahariya		Modi'in–Center	Ayalon railway Tel Aviv–Jerusalem railway Anava–Modi'in railway
Lod–Rishon LeZion	Lod–Rishon LeZion	Lod	–	Rishon LeZion–HaRishonim	Lod–Ashkelon railway
Jerusalem	~~Beit Shemesh–Jerusalem~~	Beit Shemesh	Biblical Zoo	Jerusalem–Malha	Jaffa–Jerusalem railway
Jerusalem	Modi'in–Jerusalem †	Modi'in–Center	Paatei Modi'in	Jerusalem–Yitzhak Navon	Tel Aviv–Jerusalem railway Anava–Modi'in railway
Beersheba	Lod–Beersheba ‡	Lod ← inter-city to Nahariya		Be'er Sheva–Center	Jaffa–Jerusalem railway South railway
Beersheba	Ashkelon–Beersheba ‡	Ashkelon ← commuter to Binyamina		Be'er Sheva–Center	Ashkelon–Beersheba railway
Beersheba	Ashkelon–Beersheba ‡	Ashkelon		Be'er Sheva–Center	Ashkelon–Beersheba railway
Beersheba	Beersheba–Dimona	Be'er Sheva–North	–	Dimona	Beersheba–Dimona railway

† Fully electrified line

‡ Line electrification in progress

Future

Electrification

Since the opening of the fully-electrified Tel Aviv–Ben Gurion Airport–Jerusalem railway line in 2018, work has been underway to electrify the passenger rail network with overhead 25 kV 50 Hz AC electrification. In 2024, Israel Railways estimated that work was 70% complete, with full electrification officially scheduled for 2027.

Network expansion

Due to increasing demand, Israel Railways is pursuing expansion to its infrastructure network.
The long Eastern Railway, which will connect Hadera to Kfar Saba in parallel to the Coastal Railway, began construction in 2019 and is scheduled to open in 2027. This line follows the disused route of the Ottoman-period Tulkarm–Lydda railroad, which was abandoned in 1968, and will allow freight and passenger trains to bypass the congested Hadera–Herzliya corridor.
The Rishon LeZion–Modi'in Railway also began construction in 2019, with opening planned in 2026. This line will create an east-west link south of Tel Aviv, crossing the Tel Aviv–Ashkelon, Tel Aviv–Beersheba and Tel Aviv–Jerusalem rail corridors.
Since 2019, work is underway to quadruple the section of the Ayalon Railway from Tel Aviv Center to Tel Aviv HaHagana, which forms a critical bottleneck for the entire rail network. Upon completion, this project will nearly double the capacity of the corridor, allowing a significant increase in train frequency across the network. Completion is scheduled for 2028.

Plans and proposals

A line from the city of Acre, on the Mediterranean coast, to Karmiel was completed in March 2017. However, this tract bypasses Acre and does not make a stop there; it is planned to be extended north to the north-eastern town of Qiryat Shemona, with future stations also planned for Jadeidi-Makr and Majd al-Krum, though there is no timetable for construction. This line will be fully electrified.
There were plans to build a high-speed railway to Eilat but in 2019 the project was frozen indefinitely.
In 2011 the reconstruction and expansion of the long, formerly abandoned Jezreel Valley railway line connecting Haifa and Beit Shean started. This was completed in 2016. There has been talk of further extending the line to Irbid, in Jordan ; however, no decision has yet been made on this matter. Another proposed extension under discussion would connect the reconstructed Jezreel Valley railway at Afula to Tiberias.
In May 2017, an extension of the railway from Arad via Kuseife was approved. The line would connect to the existing Beersheba–Dimona rail line at the proposed new station at Nevatim.

Rolling stock

Israel Railways currently owns a total of 193 locomotives, 717 passenger cars, and 110 MU trainsets.

Current

Locomotives

Multiple Units

Carriages

Israel Railways owns a total of 717 passenger cars.

Retired

Locomotives

Steam Locomotives

Diesel Locomotives

Multiple Units

Carriages

Organizational structure

The company is headed by a chief executive officer. It has two subsidiaries: a real estate development company, and a freight rail company. The main organization has five operational departments: freight, infrastructure, rolling stock, passengers and development.
In 2017, Israel Railways founded a Tunnels Unit that is responsible for the daily operation of railway tunnels, including lighting, air circulation, etc. and managing emergencies.

Performance

The passenger number history is as follows:

Year	Ridership
1950	1.6
1960	4.4
1970	4.1
1980	3.3
1990	2.5
1991	2.9
1995	4.8
1996	5.1
1997	5.6
1998	6.4
1999	8.8
2000	12.7
2001	15.1
2002	17.5
2003	19.8
2004	22.9
2005	26.8
2006	28.4
2007	31.8
2008	35.1
2009	35.9
2010	35.9
2011	35.9
2012	40.4
2013	45
2014	48.5
2015	53
2016	59.5
2017	64.6
2018	67.7
2019	69
2020	24.2
2021	35.0
2022	54.7
2023	62.5

	1990	1995	2000	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023
Total Revenue	102	200	402	776	840	842	902	997	1,095	1,158	1,102	1,159	1,155	1,146	518	599	604	598
Passenger-kilometers	170	267	781	2,011	1,986	1,927	2,133	2,376	2,485	2,608	2,645	2,765	3,032	3,580	1,253	1,956	3,019	3,401
Train-kilometers			3.812	9.375	8.905	8.767	8.348	10.035	11.17	12.101	12.92	13.767	14.137	14.796	10.158
Train-kilometers			1,498	1,571	1,609	1,508	1,556	1,584	1,782	1,817	2,063	2,141	1,934	1,934	1,791
Ton-kilometers	1,048	1,176	1,173	799	1,062	1,099	1,011	1,058	1,165	1,155	1,404	1,381	1,235	1,241	1,250	1,085	992	895
Network length	940	858	926	1,001	1,035	1,079	1,138	1,153	1,194	1,277	1,337	1,384	1,462	1,462	1,486

In contemporary shekels – not adjusted for inflation