High-speed railway to Jerusalem

The Tel Aviv–Jerusalem railway (also high-speed railway to Jerusalem, Plan A1, and Railway 29) is a railway line that will connect the cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in Israel. It has been under construction in stages since 2001, with service expected to commence in March 2018. It will be the first heavy rail line in Israel to be electrified and will serve as the main rail link between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, complementing the old Jaffa–Jerusalem railway. As such, the railway is often referred to in Israel as the high-speed railway to Jerusalem to distinguish it from the older, longer and slower line.

The newly constructed railway will span about 56 km of electrified double track, costing approximately NIS 7 billion (about US$2 billion) due to the extensive bridging and tunneling required along the mountainous route. The design speed is 160 km/h with a projected travel time of approximately 28 minutes to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv HaHagana Railway Station and 20 minutes to Jerusalem from the Ben Gurion Airport Railway Station.

After the suspension of service from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on the old Jaffa–Jerusalem line in 1998 due to the poor track state, an urgent need arose to create a rail link from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Between 2000 and 2001, several alternatives were proposed:

Plans to build a line adjacent to Road 443 were discarded immediately, due to its being inside the West Bank. The Municipality of Jerusalem supported Plan G1, while Israel Railways supported Plan S as a quick deployment plan, followed by A1. On June 13, 2001, Transportation Minister Ephraim Sneh and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon chose to proceed with Israel Railways' plan. One of the reasons was environmentalists' opposition to G1, due to the route passing through the middle of a nature reserve. Plan B2 was used for the branch to Modi'in, which was completed in 2008. This section of railway is part of a longer future line that will eventually extend from Modi'in to Rishon LeZion along right-of-way reserved for it during the construction of Highway 431. As part of the implementation of plan S, the old line's reach into Jerusalem was shortened at the request of the Jerusalem municipality. Instead of terminating at the Jerusalem Railway Station, the renovated line terminated at the new Malha Station in southern Jerusalem.

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