Jaffa-Jerusalem railway

[ ] Tel Aviv - Jerusalem inter-city line
Tel Aviv Central Tel Aviv HaShalom Tel Aviv HaHagana to Rishon LeZion Moshe Dayan Ayalon Highway (20) to Tel Aviv South, Jaffa to Ben Gurion Airport Highway 1 to Rosh HaA'yin Lod to Ashkelon Ramla Highway 431 to Be'er Sheva Central Trans-Israel Highway (6) Beit Shemesh Jerusalem Biblical Zoo Jerusalem Malha Jerusalem (Khan) Israel Rail Lines Map

The Jaffa–Jerusalem railway (also J & J) is a railway that connected Jaffa and Jerusalem. The line was built in the Mutasarrifate of Jerusalem (Ottoman Palestine) by the French company Société du Chemin de Fer Ottoman de Jaffa à Jérusalem et Prolongements and inaugurated in 1892, after previous attempts by the British-Jewish philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore failed. While the first rail track in the Middle East was laid elsewhere, the line is considered to be the first Middle Eastern railway.

The line was originally built at 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in) metre gauge, later rebuilt to 1,050 mm (3 ft 5 ¹¹⁄₃₂ in) and then to 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ¹⁄₂ in) standard gauge. The line was operated by the French, the Ottomans and after World War I, the British. After its closure in 1948, it was re-opened as the Tel Aviv – Jerusalem railway by Israel Railways.

Sir Moses Montefiore spoke of establishing a railway between Jaffa and Jerusalem in 1838. He met with Culling Eardley, who was also interested in the project, but stated that he would not be part of it if religious institutions would be involved. In 1856, he contacted the British prime minister, Lord Palmerston, and discussed the construction of a railway. Temple supported the plan, commenting that it would benefit both Britain and Turkey. A meeting was organized with the Ottoman Grand Vizier Aali Pasha upon his visit to London on May 20, 1856, where an agreement on the principles was signed. As a result, Laurence Oliphant, an author and businessman who became a Member of Parliament in 1865, also put his force behind the project. On December 8, 1856, Count Paweł Strzelecki, also involved in the project, sent a message from Istanbul that the Ottoman government was not willing to provide land for the construction, and the project withered.

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