“Hurting anyone who has not been taken to the Khalat”

These are the changes in train activity: No trains are operated south of the Tel Aviv Haganah station, and this is the last station that can be reached from the north. All stations south of the station were temporarily closed to service. In addition, no trains are operated on the Herzliya-Jerusalem line Yitzhak Navon and on the Rosh HaAyin North-Rishon LeZion-Moshe Dayan-Beer Sheva line.

These are the stations that have been temporarily closed to service: Rosh HaAyin North, Petah Tikva Purple, Petah Tikva Kiryat Arieh, Bnei Brak, Lod, Lod Ganei Aviv, Kfar Chabad, Modiin Merkaz, Pati Modiin, Jerusalem Yitzhak Navon, Holon Junction, Holon Wolfson, Bat Yam Yoseftal, Bat Yam Komemiyut , Ramla, Beit Shemesh, Beer Yaakov, Rishon LeZion Rishon LeZion, Rishon LeZion Moshe Dayan, Rehovot, Yavneh East, Yavneh West, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Sderot, Netivot, Ofakim, Mazkeret Batya, Kiryat Malachi Yoav, Kiryat Gat, Lehavim Rahat , Be’er Sheva North University, Be’er Sheva Central and Dimona.

Liran Ben Nun of Ofakim works in Tel Aviv. According to him, only one bus line, which will not be reinforced, should be a replacement for the train line with which he travels every day to work. “The line passes twice in the morning in the direction of Tel Aviv, and returns three times throughout the afternoon and evening,” Liron said. “The bus ride is not easy because only 50% occupancy is allowed. Instead of an hour and a half ride by train, the bus ride takes two and a half or three hours each way, that is – six hours of travel a day.”

Ben-Nun expressed his frustration with the conduct of the Ministry of Transport. “The reason I moved to Ofakim from Rishon Lezion is the price per occupant, but the state dumped us and does not count us. If the electricity is north of Ashkelon, why are we also closed?” He wondered. “And it’s not only us in Ofakim, but also in Sderot and Netivot. Instead of increasing the frequency of trains, they cancel them and do not present other worthy alternatives. It hurts me most that the Minister of Transport, Miri Regev, who cares about the periphery, forgot us. It hurts me the most, and I was happy “As a bulldozer, he will make his voice heard. We will be crowded with buses in the coming weeks.”

Marcello Sneh lives in Be’er Sheva and works in Tel Aviv, and he too was injured by the closure of the train stations. “This closure hurts me a lot because I travel back and forth every day from Be’er Sheva to Tel Aviv. It is an arbitrary closure with only two days’ notice, with an excuse for maintenance and infrastructure work. It is an excuse for small children. It hurts anyone who was not taken to the hospital and should Get to work. “To get on the bus now, I have to get up an hour earlier every day,” he said.

Tal Ben Ari, a young woman with a CP disability that manifests itself in a physical disability, moves around in a wheelchair. She works in Lod and lives in Netanya. Since intercity public transportation is not accessible to people with disabilities, it is completely dependent on the train to get to its workplace.

The Ministry of Transportation claims that the train has solutions for people with disabilities, but when Tel called the train’s service center and asked how it was supposed to deal with its closure, the caller replied: Disabled vehicles will not be at our service either. ”

Tal, who is also active in the “Link 20” movement – the movement for the advancement of young people with disabilities of the Rodman Foundation – spoke about the difficulty. “In the last two weeks there have been closures between Tel Aviv and Lod, and I travel from Netanya to Lod to get to work. These two weeks shuttles were provided for people with disabilities, and yesterday I received the message that in the next three weeks there will be no response from the train. I tried to understand why, because I work vitally. “.

“It was announced only two days before and it is outrageous,” Tal continued in frustration. “Especially because we specifically need to prepare for things in advance and inform the workplaces, because we have no alternative and we do not have the privilege of an ordinary person. I would be happy for the Ministry of Transportation to understand, at least for the next few times, It happens, it also happened in the first closure. “

Before the Corona crisis, the train registered more than 250,000 passengers daily, but its shutdown during the first closure for three and a half months, even after the economy returned to activity, dramatically lowered passenger confidence. Between closures, the number of trips decreased from 80,000 to 100,000 trips a day, with the train not operating at all on weekends, although the electrical work is only carried out in specific sections and is not carried out at all in the evenings. In recent weeks, sections of track between Herzliya and Tel Aviv have been closed, and with the disruptions to train traffic, confidence has dropped even more – and the number of trips has dropped to 50,000 a day.

Israel Railways claims that the company is taking advantage of the decrease in the number of passengers to promote infrastructure works in the closure, but ignores the fact that the decrease in the number of passengers was caused due to the same works themselves and due to the severe damage to service. In addition, for the purpose of the works, the train shuts down more than half of its activity, and is not satisfied with the sections work as it used to do so far to allow any trains to move.

Most of the work in the southern region is part of the electrification project designed to transfer the propulsion of the polluting diesel train to electricity. The project is supposed to upgrade the service that the train provides to passengers, but it is done significantly late. According to the State Comptroller’s report published last October, Israel Railways has been working since 2000 to replace the polluting diesel train system with electric trains, a move that is expected to shorten travel times, increase the number of trains online, improve compliance with schedules and reduce the number of incidents. NIS 12.1 billion has been allocated to the project, but as of the end of 2019, only 31% of the budget has been used.

In 2013 it was decided that the project would be completed by 2019, but it was postponed, and now the estimated completion date is 2025 – a delay of six years from the original set date. In a previous report prepared by the State Comptroller on the subject in 2017, Israel Railways estimated that the project would be completed in 2021. Some of the delays in recent years are due to a legal dispute with the company that performs the electrification, and the railway’s proposal to include additional contractors. , Micha Meiksner, a compromise was reached with the executing company and the target date is set for 2025.

Over the years, not only has the project completion date been postponed, but the cost estimate has also increased from NIS 11.9 billion in 2014 to NIS 12.4 billion in 2019. According to the State Comptroller, these are not the only costs, because postponing the project also has other costs of hundreds of millions of shekels every year. “Delays in projects may cause the project to lose its viability and lead to changes in the prioritization of its components,” the auditor wrote.

Alon Ben Yishai, director of the stations department at Israel Railways, addressed the anger of the passengers at the Ynet studio this morning. “I understand the anger and what the passengers are claiming, but it is very important to note that we are in a closure in recent days,” he said. “The closure has tightened and there has been a significant reduction in the number of passengers. 280,000 passengers routinely travel a day, and less than 30,000 traveled yesterday. I think there is no better and more significant decision than to carry out these infrastructure works here and now.”

According to him, despite the fact that the traveling public learned about the changes only two days ago, he should thank the Israel Railways for the electrification project. “People need to tell the workers and the train management – well done for our very preparation, with two days’ notice, to operate the cranes and trucks that have been working since yesterday at 12 at night.”

The Ministry of Transportation responded: “In the past year, the Ministry of Transportation took advantage of the shutdown of train traffic during the Corona period and the low demand for train travel during the closure period, to carry out complex infrastructure operations. Disabling various sections of the train during closure Projects in the rail network for one to five years.

“The Ministry of Transportation and Israel Railways continue to provide services for people with disabilities on weekdays and during train work. Passengers with physical disabilities, whose travel is not possible on regular bus lines, will receive complementary service through accessible commuters, including city buses adapted for people with disabilities. “The Ministry of Transportation will assist passengers with disabilities to travel by alternative means between closed train stations, at the cost of regular travel on public transportation, subject to prior arrangement at the Israel Railways call center (5770 *), one day before the trip, as is done on weekdays.”