Rocket-damaged Sderot train station to reopen for first time since May

The Sderot train station will open again on Monday for the first time since mid-2023, Israel Railways announced on Wednesday.

Israel’s railway company announced in May of last year that it would not be running trains between Ashkelon and Netivot in Israel’s south for security reasons, rendering the Sderot station, which is between the two, unoperated.

Its opening was then further delayed after it suffered rocket damage during the October 7 Hamas assault on southern Israel.

The announcement on Wednesday said the station would reopen next week after the railway underwent infrastructure works to repair damage from rockets.

When the station opens on Monday, trains will pass through Sderot once an hour between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., Sunday-Thursday.

The route is not returning to normal, however, with trains still not operating northward between Sderot and Ashkelon. Instead, trains will only operate heading south, to Beersheba via Ofakim.

“Passengers whose destination or station of departure is further north will have to change trains in Beersheba,” the announcement said.

The southern city of Sderot was one of the locations hit by Hamas on October 7 when terrorists launched an unprecedented attack on Israel’s south, murdering some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 253.

During their rampage, terrorists attacked the Sderot police station, which became the scene of heavy battles between Hamas and the station’s police officers. The building was ultimately completely destroyed. At least 50 civilians and 20 police officers were killed in Sderot on October 7.

Following Hamas’s attack, the IDF evacuated towns along the Gazan border, including Sderot. Last month, the army said the city’s residents could return after it determined that this would not pose a security risk to civilians.

As residents make their way back the city has been taking steps to return to normal, with schools reopening last week. An Education Ministry spokesperson told The Times of Israel that between 55% and 60% of kindergarten to 12th-grade students had returned.