Red Line (Tel Aviv Light Rail)

Red Line
Construction on Jerusalem Blvd in Jaffa
Overview
Type	Tram
Status	Under construction
Locale	Petah Tikva, Bnei Brak, Ramat Gan, Tel Aviv-Jaffa, Bat Yam
Termini	Petah Tikva Central Bus Station Kiryat Aryeh depot Nisenboim Street (Bat Yam)
Stations	33
Website	www.nta.co.il
Operation
Opened	2021 (estimated)
Operator(s)	NTA
Depot(s)	Kiryat Aryeh depot
Technical
Line length	23 km (14 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Electrification	1500 V DC OHLE
Operating speed	50 km/h (31 mph) in Street Level 70 km/h (43 mph) Underground

The red line will be the first section of a Light rail system the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, known as Tel Aviv Light Rail. The line will run from Bat Yam in the south to Petah Tikva in the northeast with a significant portion of it underground. The total cost of the red line is estimated at NIS 11 billion or, approximately US$3 billion.

The Red Line starts at Petah Tikva's Central Bus Station, east of Tel Aviv and follows the Jabotinsky Road (Route 481) westwards at street level. At the point where Jabotinsky Road and Highway 4 intersect the line drops into an underground tunnel for 10 km and emerges again to street level just before Jaffa, where it turns southwards towards Bat Yam. The underground section will include 10 stations, including an interchange with Israel Railways services at Tel Aviv Central Railway Station and the nearby 2000 Terminal. A maintenance depot, connected via a branch line and tunnel to the main section of the line, will be constructed in Kiryat Aryeh, across from the existing Kiryat Arye suburban railway station.

A planned southern extension will add 2.8 km (2 mi) into the city of Rishon LeZion and three intermediate stops and an inter-modal terminus which will serve as connection with Israel Railways' Rishon LeZion Moshe Dayan Railway Station and the projected Green Line.