Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
A bridge on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv fast train route, July 2017 (Gidi Avinary/Flash90)
Israel Railways on Wednesday informed the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that its long-awaited fast train service between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv will be delayed for some six months because it still lacks certain necessary safety permits.
A recent assessment in cooperation with bodies such as the fire service revealed that some permits for the service, which is supposed to link the two cities in 30 minutes or less, have not been granted.
The announcement leaves Transportation Minister Israel Katz with egg on his face for having promised last month that the service would be up and running at the end of March, just before the Passover holiday when many Israelis travel around the country.
“This Passover, we will make it possible for multitudes of Jews to travel to Jerusalem,” Katz said in January. Passover in 2018 begins on the evening of March 30.
An October 2017 report by the state comptroller was highly skeptical that the train would be operational by that date, warning that cutting corners to finish the project by April could lessen the quality of the work, compromise safety, and lead to an overall increase in the costs of the project.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Editionby email and never miss our top stories
Israel Railways CEO Shahar Ayalon (R) with Minister of Transportation Israel Katz during a test drive of the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv express train on January 16, 2018. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
