Last update - 00:00 21/08/2007
Tel Aviv-Modi'in rail link to open September 1
By Tamara Traubmann, Haaretz Correspondent
The new Tel Aviv-Modi'in rail service will start operating on September 1, connecting the large town to the business heartland of greater Tel Aviv.
It is expected to be heavily trafficked by thousands of commuters escaping notorious traffic jams. However, commuters may find themselves stuck in a new traffic jam on their way back - on the road from the railway station to their neighborhoods. Construction on the road has been delayed for over a year.
The railway line, whose construction began in March 2003, will allow Modi'in residents to reach Tel Aviv in just 20 minutes - as opposed to the typical hour's drive in rush hour.
Modi'in's first railway station will be situated on the outskirts of town, near the commercial area. Another underground station will open in about a year in the shopping mall currently under construction on Modi'in's main drag.
Israel Railways predicts that 1.2 million passengers will use the line in its first year and some 2 million every year after that. A feasibility test conducted for the Finance Ministry found that the line would save an estimated NIS 11 million a year in pollution and noise costs. The overall savings in car operation expenses was estimated at some NIS 50 million a year.
Israel Railways CEO Ofer Linczewski says that operating a railway line in a town for the first time will be a "test case for public transportation." Israelis will always prefer to use their private cars unless they have a significant incentive to take public transportation, he said.
Road 431, leading from the railway station to Modi'in, is still under construction and may cause a new traffic jam for commuters returning on the train, Linczewski and Modi'in Mayor Moshe Spector say. This road, which at present has only one lane in each direction instead of the planned two, has recently been transferred from the auspices of the Construction and Housing Ministry to the Ayalon Highway company.
The Transportation Ministry stated: "The project is advancing as quickly as possible. However, it appears that when the railway line opens, a temporary traffic load will be created in the area."
Israel Railways has asked transport authorities to give priority in junction traffic lights to drivers returning from the rail station until the new road is completed. But Spector says it is impossible to give priority only to drivers from this road due to the heavy traffic in the area.
A 320-space parking lot has been built near the station, but this is not nearly enough. The municipality plans to add some 350 parking spaces, Spector says.
Such lines should encourage migration from city to suburbs. A recent housing ministry study indicated that a new suburban rail link could increase relocation from a city by 0.4 percent. Trains are scheduled to arrive in Modi'in 58 times a day, Israel Railways says.
A University of Haifa study on the effect of railway links on real estate prices in 1992-2002 found that housing prices rise by an average of 0.4 percent per additional train arrival per day. The study was based on the assumption that advanced train services contribute to direct savings in traveling time in each direction. They also increase the jobs and wages available to commuters, by reducing travel costs to destinations with potentially higher wages.