Railway to Karmiel

The Railway to Karmiel is a railway linking Acre (Akko) and Karmiel in northern Israel. According to Israel Railways' plan, the new double track standard gauge railway stretches for about 23 km from just south of Akko to Karmiel, and is expected to open for service in the summer of 2017. It branches eastwards from the Coastal Railway between the Kiryat Motzkin Railway Station and the Acre Railway Station (at a point nearby where the Coastal Railway passes over the Na'aman River) and includes an approximately 5 km long tunnel (composed of two parallel single-track tunnels) in the mountainous region near the eastern end of the line. Most of the route is in the vicinity of Highway 85. Two stations have been built, one in Ahihud and one in the entrance to Karmiel. From Karmiel, a conceptual design exists to eventually extend the railway to Korazim (near Safed) and from there to Kiryat Shmona at the very northern tip of Israel.

The railway was first proposed in the early 2000s but the plans were put on hold in the Sharon government due to financial reasons. An alternative plan to instead create a light rail line from Haifa to Karmiel was rejected. The Knesset's Research and Information Centre criticised the relevant authorities for not doing enough research on the advantages and disadvantages of light vs. heavy rail in the project. The light rail plan was supported by Ministry of Finance and Haifa's development company Yefe Nof, while the heavy rail plan was supported by Israel Railways and the Karmiel municipality. The light rail to Karmiel would have been part of a larger project that would include Nazareth and Acre. The Nazareth section was eventually also rejected in favour of a heavy rail line.

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