The Economic Arrangements Law for planning and construction has allocated a budget of NIS 8.1 billion (EUR 1.8 billion) for the “eastern link” connecting Hadera and Lod. Construction of the new line will be divided between Netivei Israel, which will build the northern section from Hadera to Kfar Saba, and Israel Railways, which will build the southern section from Kfar Saba to Lod.
The line will help bypass the Ayalon railway bottleneck in Tel Aviv. At present all lines from north to south pass through the three lines in Tel Aviv, which will no longer be necessary after the Hadera-Lod line is complete.
The 63-kilometer line was approved by the National Planning and Building Commission back in 2012 but the funding has only become available recently. It is estimated that the line won’t be operational before 2026.
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