Bethel Finance: Further delays for Jerusalem rail link

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Bethel Finance news:

Belying promises earlier this month by Minister of Transport Israel Katz that the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv fast rail line will begin operating by 2017, sources inform "Globes" that the line will not be completed before the end of 2018.

In early November, Katz conducted a tour of the section of the line between Sha'ar Hagai and Jerusalem to gauge the progress of the construction and tunneling and declared that the project would be completed in five years time. However, "Globes" has seen a copy of an internal report by the Ministry of Finance, which sets out a very different timetable. The report was prepared by the Pareto Group, which is supervising the project on behalf of the Ministry of Finance.

The Jerusalem-Tel Aviv fast rail link is the largest and most complex project currently being undertaken by Israel Railways. The project involves laying 30 kilometers of tracks from Latrun to Jerusalem and includes four tunnels totaling 20 kilometers and four bridges stretching over five kilometers.

The project has drawn enormous criticism over the years and has been the subject of State Comptroller reports, which highlighted serious cost overruns and missed deadlines. The government approved the project back in 2001 with work due for completion in 2008 at an estimated cost of NIS 3.18 billion (in 2003 prices). The cost of the project is now expected to reach NIS 9 billion.

In 2007, Israel Railways requested a NIS 4 billion supplement to the budget and said the project would be completed in 2013. In the end the route only received final approval in 2009 from the National Planning Council after a protracted struggle by environmentalists who sought to have the bridge over Nahal Yitla replaced by a tunnel.

Before embarking on work, Israel Railways said that the project would be completed by mid-2016, while Katz's recent statement put completion back to the beginning of 2017.

The Ministry of Finance told "Globes" that it had received the Pareto Group report and said, "We are studying its findings. The project's timetable is being examined and as of today the project's date of completion is 2017."