Jerusalem train line restarts after repairs to Tel Aviv station hit in Iranian attack

Rail service between Jerusalem’s Yitzhak Navon train station and Tel Aviv Savidor Center resumed on Sunday, a few days after Savidor Station was damaged by an Iranian cluster munition.

The train platforms at the Tel Aviv station were damaged during a missile salvo from Iran in the early hours of Wednesday, March 18. The same salvo also killed an elderly couple, Yaron and Ilana Moshe, in their Ramat Gan apartment.

The station was shuttered in the immediate aftermath of the missile fire to allow urgent repairs to the platforms. It began to reopen gradually by Wednesday morning, with the exception of the platform used by trains on the Jerusalem-Herzliya route, which took most of the damage.

The route was suspended until Sunday while additional repairs were carried out on the affected tracks. During that time, trains from Jerusalem were only permitted to travel as far as Ben Gurion Airport.

Passengers wishing to travel to Tel Aviv or Herzliya from Jerusalem were able to transfer at Ben Gurion Airport to alternate lines that were running uninterrupted.

Along with the resumption of the Jerusalem-Herzliya route on Sunday, Israel Railways said a nighttime route between Jerusalem’s Yitzhak Navon and Savidor Center would also resume operating between the hours of 8 p.m. and 5 a.m.

With the exception of night trains, Israel Railways is operating all its lines on a reduced basis amid the war, ending operations at 8 p.m. each evening in accordance with guidelines from the Home Front Command.

It has also warned passengers to prepare for the possibility that some stations may be operating at a reduced capacity, with some entrances closed or with additional reduced hours, due to the limited availability of security personnel, as many have been called up for reserve duty amid the fighting.