Bidding begins for $50 billion Tel Aviv metro project, with sights set on 2037

Israel on Tuesday launched the bidding process for the construction of the Tel Aviv metro, one of the country’s largest-ever infrastructure projects, expected to cost $50 billion and carry two million passengers daily in the coastal metropolis.

The metro is slated to comprise three lines covering roughly 150 kilometers (90 miles) across the greater Tel Aviv area, and begin operations in 2037, an NTA Metropolitan Mass Transit System representative said. Deadlines for public transit projects of this kind, however, are often pushed back.

The system, as envisioned, will complement the city’s light rail. One line of the light rail is currently operating, and two more are under construction. In total, that system is meant to extend more than 90 kilometers (56 miles).

At an inaugural event in the city, Israel’s economic hub, the state-run NTA company hosted representatives from dozens of international infrastructure companies as it opened the bidding process for the project.

Potential bidders were presented with information necessary “to qualify for participation… for the $50 billion government-funded” project, NTA said in a statement.

Also referred to as Gush Dan, the greater Tel Aviv metropolitan area has over four million residents, or about 40 percent of Israel’s population.

The company statement, quoting NTA chief executive Itamar Ben-Meir, described the project as a “national undertaking that will change the face of the country,” as Israel struggles with chronic road congestion and high traffic accidents.

Jerusalem’s light rail system also has one operational line and two more under construction. One of those is set to begin running this year.