Jaffa Jerusalem Railway History

Jaffa - Jerusalem Railway or Jaffa - Jerusalem Railway (J&J or JJR) is the railway line built in the Ottoman Empire to connect Jerusalem with the port city of Jaffa (now part of Tel Aviv). The railway was built by the Société du Chemin de Fer Ottoman de Jaffa à Jé Linearem et Prolongements / Ottoman Jaffa to Jerusalem by the Railway and Extensions Company, a French company in the Sanjak of Jerusalem (Kudüs-i Şerif Mutassarıflığı). The railroad was opened only in 1892 after previous unsuccessful attempts by British-Jewish philanthropist Sir Moses Montefiore. The line is not the first railway line in the Middle East, but is considered the first Middle East railway line.

The original line was built with narrow track span (1000 mm). However, with subsequent changes, the line was rebuilt first with a track span of 1050 mm, then with a standard track span (1435 mm). The line was initially operated by the French, then the Ottomans, and after World War I, by the British. After the closure of the line in 1948, Israeli Railways made partial changes on the same route and put the Tel Aviv - Jerusalem Railway into service.

History

Sir Moses Montefiore came up with the idea of ​​building a railway between Jaffa and Jerusalem in 1838. Montefiore met with Sir Culling Eardley, who was interested in the project. However, Eardley stated that if religious institutions are involved, they will not be part of the project. Montefiore contacted British Prime Minister Lord Henry John Temple in 1856 and discussed the idea of ​​building the railway. Lord Temple, railway and Britain both voiced support for the project, saying it would benefit Turkey. During his visit to London on 20 May 1856, a meeting was organized with the Ottoman Grand Vizier Mehmed Emin Âli Pasha and an agreement was signed on principles. As a result, Laurence Oliphant, a writer and businessman, who became a Member of Parliament in 1865, also supported the project. On December 8, 1856, Count Paweł Strzelecki was also involved in the project. However, Count Strzelecki sent a message from Istanbul saying that the Ottoman government was not willing to provide land for construction and the project was shelved.

In 1856, General Francis Rawdon Chesney went to Palestine to investigate the railroad land on behalf of Sir John McNeil's company, a railway expert. After examining two possible routes, Chesney calculated the cost of construction of 4.000 to 4.500 pounds per kilometer, but found that cost too high for a railway line in Jerusalem. Sir McNeil's company then suggested building a short railway line from Jaffa to Lod (Lydda) only, followed by a roadway to Jerusalem (which would cost only 150 pounds per kilometer). Chesney did not give up his attempts, but met with General Sir Arthur Slade, who was in the Ottoman army (who supports the railway project in present-day Iraq). General Slade, which will benefit the UK and a Jaffa believe to be against Turkey's interests - as opposed to Demiyolu Jerusalem. While Montefiore got involved, Chesney's initiative came to nothing. According to another statement, Montefiore withdrew from the project after Culling Eardley said during a meeting that the railway would serve Christian missionary activity.

On his fifth visit to the Holy Land in 1857, Montefiore brought with him a British railway engineer who proposed the construction of a railway line across the Refa'im Valley in order to reduce construction costs and ensure that the railway was close to a water source. However, when Montefiore lost his wife in Rosh Hashanah in 1862, his interest in the project was lost. In 1864, German / American engineer Charles Frederick Zimpel proposed to the Ottoman authorities to build several railway lines in the Syrian province (including Palestine). If Zimpel could raise the necessary funds within half a year, construction would be allowed to start. In 1865 Zimpel published a pamphlet with his own research, which is very similar to today's route, including a French map of the planned route. The main difference between the planned line and the built line was the two parts near Jaffa and Ramla, which were changed from the original plan for convenience and extended the line by approximately 6.5 km. Zimpel wasted a year in Istanbul trying to get concessions to build railways.

Conrad Schick, a German architect and urban engineer living in Jerusalem, detailed his proposal in a similar booklet published later by Zimpel that a line should be built from Ramallah and Beit Horon. The route in Schick's plan was the only viable route that had long been accepted. French engineers conducted a comprehensive survey of this route between 1874-1875. Another railway concept to Jerusalem was conceived by the American writer James T. Barclay. Barclay envisioned a line starting from El-Arish, Ashkelon or Gaza. Another proposal was made by Engineer Humann, who researched the area proposed in 1864. Humann stated that it would be wise to build a railway to Jerusalem.

Due to British interest in the project, France and Austria-Hungary were also interested in the project. The Ottoman Empire rejected Montefiore's plan on the assumption that it would serve mainly Christian missionary interests. However, the report on the proposed railway in 1872 was published in the local press, and the Turkish Sultan was praised for his efforts to encourage the construction of the project. The original failure of the Western powers to build the railway was due to their own governments' unwillingness to allocate resources for the project despite their political interests.

Finance
The main person responsible for the construction of the railway was Yosef Navon, a Jewish businessman living in Jerusalem. Yosef Navon began exploring the possibility of building a railway line in 1885. His advantage was that he was an Ottoman citizen, unlike those who had previously offered railroad offers. Navon's main partners and supporters included his cousin Joseph Amzalak, Greek / Lebanese engineer George Franjieh, and Swiss Protestant banker Johannes Frutiger.

Navon spent three years in Istanbul promoting the project and obtaining permission from the Ottoman Empire. With the edict issued on 28 October 1888, Navon gained the privilege of 71 years from the Ottoman Empire and also allowed it to extend the line to Gaza and Nablus with this edict. In addition, Navon agreed to provide 5.000 Turkish lira financial guarantee to the Ottoman Empire. Due to the lack of capital required to continue the construction of the project, Navon traveled to Europe in 1889 to find a buyer for the concession but failed both in England and Germany. Later, the French lighthouse inspector, Bernard Camille Collas, bought the concession for 1 Million Francs (40.000 Pounds). On December 29, 1889, the Jaffa to Jerusalem Railway Company, officially known as the Ottoman Jaffa to Jerusalem Railway and its Extensions Company (Société du Chemin de Fer Ottoman de Jaffa à Jé Linearem et Prolongements), whose First President was Inspector Collas, was in Paris. was established. Total capital amounted to 8,000 Million Francs at 4 shares.

Yosef Navon was on the board of directors, consisting mostly of French investors. The company's capital increased from 9,795,000 Francs (390,000 pounds) to 14 Million Francs from the Christian community. The construction was carried out by the Parisian Public Works and Construction Company (Société des Travaux Publiques et Constructions) at a cost of 10 Million Francs (400,000 pounds) and was completed on 1 April 1893. Gerold Eberhard from Switzerland was chosen as the chief engineer of the project.

While the railroad was seen as a rare collaboration between Jews, Catholics and Protestants (Johannes Frutiger), Jewish publications also raised concerns that the line did not serve Jewish interests. H. Guedella, a famous European Jew, wrote in his book The Jewish Chronicle that the railway line was financed by "ultra-orthodox Catholics" and in the Hebrew newspaper Havatzelet, no Jewish investors could be found for the line, and that was a disappointment. When the company ran out of money, Navon provided more money from investors in Germany, Belgium and Switzerland. However, in 1892 the shares of the line fell below its nominal value. Navon tried to raise money from more people, including Theodor Herzl. However, Herzl was not interested in the project and wrote that "the miserable little line from Jaffa to Jerusalem was of course not enough for our needs."

Construction
On March 31, 1890, Jerusalem Governor İbrahim Hakkı Pasha, Gaza Mufti, Yosef Navon, Johannes Frutiger and many others attended the groundbreaking ceremony in Yazur. The track width of 1000mm was preferred for the track, similar to the French minor railways, and the rails were brought from France by the Belgian manufacturer Angleur. According to The New York Times, both railroad materials and railroad cars were purchased from the Panama Canal Company owned by Ferdinand de Lesseps. [28] However, the stamps on the rails said that the rails were produced in Belgium. Anthony S. Travis also denied the Panama Canal claim. A short rail line with a track span of 1 ft 11 5⁄8 inches was built between Jaffa Port and Jaffa Train Station to easily transport materials from the port to the railway construction site.

Construction workers were brought mainly from Egypt, Sudan and Algeria, while engineers were brought from Switzerland, Poland, Italy and Austria. Native Palestinian Arabs were also heavily involved, but most Arabs were farmers and worked only during certain seasons. In addition, stonemasons from Bethlehem and Beit Jala helped the construction of the Judean hills. Despite medical treatment, a significant number of workers died from malaria, scurvy, dysentery, and various other diseases. Many workers lost their lives in construction accidents during the rock carving operations to reach Jerusalem from Jaffa. Numerous bridges were built along the line. The short bridges were built of stone, six of the seven long bridges were built of iron supplied by the Eiffel Company, owned by Gustave Eiffel. The water required for the operation of the railway was taken from wells in Jaffa, Ramla and Battir and a spring in Sejed. Battir also supplied water to the Jerusalem Train Station.

The first test attempt on the railway was made in October 1890. This event was watched by 10.000 spectators, which is more than half of the population in Jaffa. The locomotive used in the test drive was one of the first three Baldwin 2-6-0 produced for the line and carried American and French flags. The Jaffa-Ramla Section of the line was put into service on May 24, 1891. On December 4 of the same year, a part of the Ramla – Dayr Aban Line was put into service. While the French railway company tried to build train stations in Jaffa and Jerusalem as much as possible in the old cities (historical parts of the cities), the Ottoman authorities prevented the company from doing so, and the stations were built relatively far from the cities. Despite this, the land on which the stations were built was purchased by the railway company at very high prices.

The first train reached Jerusalem on August 21, 1892, but the rail laying operations at the Jerusalem Train Station were not yet completed. The first passenger train journey between Jaffa and Jerusalem took place on 27 August 1892. Building the railway was a very ambitious undertaking under local conditions. Hundreds of tons of rails were brought from Belgium, coal from England, and iron for the rail line from France. Unloading these materials from Jaffa's primitive port was an enormously difficult process. In a report in the Railway Magazine in 1902, he wrote:

“It was a tremendous job transporting all the railroad materials to their destination safely and without loss… Such difficulties were greatly increased when dealing with steel rails and heavy cast iron items that Arabs were not accustomed to carrying. Bulky but light items such as boiler barrels or water tanks (rather than bargaining from ships) were thrown into the sea and pulled ashore, while all other items had to be unloaded via barges. A temporary wood and stone pier (these were freely imported) was built near the proposed train station for supplies, but this pier was destroyed by a bad storm overnight. „

A. Vale wrote that the sleepers were made of oak at 50 cm intervals and 22 cm wide. The rails weighed 20 kilograms per meter and were fastened to the sleepers with nails.

The line was officially opened on September 26, 1892. However, the train journey took approximately 3 to 3.5 hours (about the same time as traveling by horse carriage), as opposed to the 6 hours envisaged in the original plan. Despite this, the opening event was covered in media around the world. Yosef Navon was awarded the French Légion d'honneur (Order of Honor) for taking part in the project, a Turkish medal and the Bey title in 1895 or 1896.

In 1892, the rail's daily earnings ran a fiscal deficit that was about 20% lower than the daily construction costs. Freight transportation revenue accounted for about two-thirds of the total income. The investors and companies involved in the project faced difficulties because of this situation, especially J. Frutiger's bank caused the Navon's investments to be liquidated. Tourist traffic was lower than expected and maintenance problems arose. Since only one train was allowed to travel in one direction each day, the travel time was extended by up to 6 hours. After a Jerusalem-Jaffa train left Jerusalem in the morning, it only returned to Jerusalem in the afternoon. EA Reynolds-Ball wrote in his then-written guidebook, A Practical Guide to Jerusalem and Its Environment: “As the train painstakingly climbs the steep ramp, a skill I sometimes do myself, is jumping off the train and picking flowers along the line and back to the train. riding required just an ordinary level of activity. ”

In May 1894, in light of all the problems, the Société du Chemin de Fer Ottoman de Jaffa à Jé Linearem et Prolongements launched a new financing initiative and managed to attract a large number of investors. The reorganization attempt increased the efficiency of the line and the tourism opportunity increased, but Ottoman restrictions on Jewish land acquisitions and immigration had a negative impact on tourist traffic. There was also a cholera epidemic that damaged tourism. Freight traffic increased approximately 1893% between 1894 and 50. In 1895, improvements were made to the railway line and a bridge known as the Chelouche Bridge was built in Jaffa, while the Chelouche Family helped fund the city of Neve Tzedek. The railway has become profitable by 1897. However, Selah Merrill wrote in 1898 that the line was in bankruptcy. Moreover, although the passenger and freight traffic from Jaffa to Jerusalem was high, there were very few passengers and freight along the way.

Theodor Herzl visited Palestine in October 1898, but was not affected by the Jaffa-Jerusalem Railway. He didn't think the line was important to the Zionist enterprise, but Zalman David Levontin, another Zionist leader, drafted a plan to buy the railroad in March 1901. In any case, the Jewish settlement in Palestine benefited from the railway. Baron Edmond de Rothschild contributed to the financial development of the villages by financing several villages along the line. An arts and crafts school was founded by Boris Schatz in 1906 to meet the souvenir needs of tourists in Jerusalem.

The railway company showed a general growth trend between 1896 and World War I, despite the Sixth Cholera Outbreak that spread back to Palestine in 1902 and 1912, and the growing nationalist authority of the Ottoman authorities. By 1903 it was clear that more locomotives were needed for touristic seasons. The railway company ordered a 1904-0-4-4 Mallet Locomotive from the German Borsig Company in 0. The locomotive entered service in 1905. Two more locomotives arrived in 1908. The last locomotive built in 1914 was probably captured by Britain during the war and never reached Palestine.

World War I
During World War I, the railway was taken over by the Turkish and German Armies and adapted to serve the needs of the Sinai and Palestinian Front. German engineer Heinrich August Meissner assumed responsibility for the operation of the railway. While the Jaffa Train Station was initially serving as a military headquarters, most of the heavy machinery and equipment were moved to Jerusalem in early 1915, when the Ottomans were afraid of the British naval bombardment of the railway. Later that same year, the part of the line between Yafa and Lod was completely dismantled. The rails and sleepers removed later were used in the construction of the Beersheba Railway. Later, the Lod-Jerusalem section was rebuilt with a track span of 1050 mm, and Lod was connected to the Hejaz Railway through the Eastern Railways and to the Yezreel Valley Railway via the Tulkarim Branch Line.

As the British began advancing north in November 1917, the railroad was sabotaged by Austrian saboteurs from the retreating Alliance army, and most bridges (5) were blown up. Turkish troops took rail cars and everything transportable with them, from wooden rails to parts of the station. But even if the railway was devastated, it was still valuable to the British as it provided the only viable link from Jerusalem to Egypt. Wooden Fork Bridges were built instead of the destroyed iron bridges, and the first British train reached Jerusalem on 27 December 1917. [60] In February 1918, a 600 mm (1 ft 11 5⁄8 in) track span was constructed from Jaffa to Lod, along with the extension of the Yarkon River that was the front line at the time. The Dekovil line later reached Arab Village al-Jalil (today the Galilee / Glilot region), and continued to be used for the transportation of construction materials without locomotives until 1922-1923. Another extension was built from the Jaffa Train Station to the port, which was in operation until 1928.

Later, a second Dekovil line was built in Jerusalem, approaching the Old City by winding around the mountains and continuing to El Bireh in the north. The construction of this second line of decovil was decided by the British General Allenby after a Turkish counterattack on the British who had recently occupied Jerusalem. Construction started in May 1918 and was completed in September of the same year. However, in the same period of time, this line was useless as the front was gradually moving towards north. This short line passed through today's Knesset and Biblical Zoo grounds. A narrower track with 762 mm track span was also built by the British from Lod to Tira and Lubban, partially adjacent to the existing Turkish line at 1050 mm track span.

The locomotives used in the railway were converted by the Turks from a track span of 1050 mm to ensure that they could be used in all networks in Palestine during the war. Five of the locomotives (two Baldwin 2-6-0 (3rd and 5th Locomotives) and three Borsig 0-4-4-0 (6th, 7th and 8th Locomotives)) survived the war. 3. The locomotive "Ramleh" was in a very damaged condition, although it was repaired using spare parts of the engines of other broken locomotives. The Ramleh remained in inventory until 1930, although it was probably not used after the end of the war.

Under the British Mandate

Since the line is still narrow and does not comply with other British lines, various suggestions have been made to use locomotives and passenger cars brought from Sudan or Australia. However, the British operator Palestinian Military Railways, which manages the railway system, decided to rebuild the line to a larger standard track span of 1435 mm. This process was carried out between January 27 and June 15, 1920. The final section between Jaffa and Lod was completed in September 1920 and opened on 5 October with a ceremony attended by the British High Commissioner Herbert Samuel.

Between the end of the war and 1920, the railway was used almost exclusively for military purposes. However, it was also allowed to be used by the British authorities for food (food) delivery to Jerusalem shortly after the war ended. Civil passenger transport began operating between Haifa and Jerusalem in June 1919, and in February 1920 there was an option to travel from Jerusalem to Egypt via a transfer at Lod. During this period, the Zionist movement claimed the rights from France for the railway (since the railway was not owned by the British). The British opposed this request, claiming that France was an ally of Britain during the war. However, all inline civilian operations met with strong French opposition; and France did not approve of British Civil Mandate control of the railway. Britain's response to France was that since the original French line was rebuilt, the line was actually British property.

After controversy, the civilian Palestinian Railways took over the line in April 1920. On October 4, 1922, the two sides signed an agreement in which Britain would pay 565.000 pounds in compensation to the French company, the main operator of the line. The compensation claim by the French operators was originally £ 1.5 million, but afterwards £ 565.000 was settled. The coastal railway now ran from El Kantara to Haifa and intersected the Jaffa-Jerusalem line at Lod. In 1921, a luxury expedition service was launched from Jerusalem to El Kantara on demand, but this service was not popular. Later, this line was replaced by a more successful luxury voyage from El Kantara on the coastal railway line to Haifa.

Imperial Electrification Plan
The Jaffa-Jerusalem Railway line was protected and operated by the British Army until October 1921 and since then by the internationally recognized United Kingdom Mandate Administration. The British High Commissioner made a special effort to keep the line managed and operated by the state-controlled Palestinian Railways, and to remain state property, and considered it the core artery of Palestine. However, the future of the Jaffa-Jerusalem Railway was directly linked to the electrification of the line. The mutual talks between High Commissioner Herbert Samuel and Pinhas Rutenberg for concessions for the electrification of Palestine ended flawlessly: they both tried to secure a government commitment approved by London for the electrification of the line. Rutenberg declared that the electrification of the railways was necessary for the successful electrification of the country as a whole. Writing to the Colonial Office, the High Commissioner emphasized: "The requirement that the railway between Jaffa and Jerusalem be electrified and that the line's electrical power be supplied by the concessionaire is an integral part of the plan." Still, the Sönürge Office and Treasury's rejection of the project on economic feasibility grounds in London failed the potential investment.

On April 1, 1923, ticket prices were significantly reduced, increasing the daily use of the line from tens to hundreds of passengers. However, in the late 1920s, the line dropped again, due to competition from the road near the line traveled by car or bus.

Tel Aviv - Jerusalem Line

During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, service of the line was suspended. After the end of the war, many parts of the line remained under the control of the Jordanian Arab Legion. Following the 1949 Armistice Agreements, the entire line was returned to Israel, and on August 7, 1949, the first Israeli train loaded with flour, cement and Torah scrolls, sent symbolically, arrived in Jerusalem, and the line was officially put into service. Israel Railways began regular passenger service from Tel Aviv North Railway Station to Jerusalem via the Eastern Railways and Rosh HaAyin on March 2, 1950. Soon, the railway line from south Tel Aviv was restored for regular service.

Although Israel Railways started using diesel locomotives in the late 1950s and the line was repaired, the J&J line was not converted to a dual track configuration and travel time was still too long. Jaffa Railway Station was abandoned, and the final destination on the coast was changed to Tel Aviv's Beit Hadar Railway Station (original Tel Aviv South Station). This indicates that the line in the urban area of ​​Tel Aviv has been completely dismantled and the new end station is Tel Aviv South Station. The reasons cited for the changes on the line were that the line caused traffic congestion in the city and the high land value of the real estate development area. Later, Transport Minister Shimon Peres became the primary supporter of the cancellation of the line within the city and worked to build a new station (Tel Aviv South Station) on unused land given as compensation to Israeli Railways in exchange for the areas in which the railroad passed through Tel Aviv.

The railway was subjected to numerous terrorist attacks in the 1960s before the Six-Day War, mainly due to its proximity to the Green Line and the Arab village of Battir. On October 27, 1966, a person was injured by a bomb placed on the line.

Later, a modern highway was built between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and the use of the railway line between the two cities was abandoned. In 1995, train services were stopped both ways. On 12 July 1998, Amos Uzani, CEO of Israeli Railways, decided to close the line completely. And the last train on the line left on August 14, 1998.

Reopening (2003 - 2005)

Amos Uzani asked the Minister of Infrastructure, Ariel Sharon, to allocate resources for the major repair and reconstruction of the line, but instead it was decided to develop the Tel Aviv-Beersheba Railway line and build a new central train station closer to Beersheba Central Bus Station. .

Meanwhile, several alternatives were considered for the restoration of the rail link between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem:

• S and S1 Routes - S Route suggested repairing the old route, preserving the same curved road in the mountains between Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem, while Rotra S1 suggested building a few small tunnels and straightening the curves at the mountain pass.
• Routes G and G1 - He was proposing a monolithic repair of the old route and straightening the curves by building long tunnels along the line.
• Routes B, B1, B2, M and M1 - was proposing to build a new line from Tel Aviv via Modi's-Maccabim-Re'ut and along Highway 443 to Jerusalem.
• Routes A and A1 - Modi's-Maccabim-Re'ut Branch Line Proposed the construction of a new line roughly parallel to Highway 1.

The plan to build a new line next to Highway 443 (Routes B, B1, B2, M and M1) was shelved due to the route following the West Bank. While the Municipality of Jerusalem supported the G1 Route, the Israeli Railways supported the S Route as a rapid implementation plan, followed by the A1 Route. In June 2001, Transport Minister Ephraim Sneh and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon chose to use the Israeli Railways proposal.

September 13, 2003 Tel Aviv – Beit-Shemesh division and Beit-Shemesh Train Station reopened. In April 2005, the construction of the second section started with the opening of the Jerusalem Malha Railway Station; The remainder of this route to the Jerusalem Khan Train Station, located at a more central point in Jerusalem, was canceled at the request of the Municipality of Jerusalem. Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu also took part in the opening ceremony.

The renewed line faced many problems, especially in the Beit-Shemesh-Jerusalem section, and the line was not considered economically viable. In addition, the planned construction cost of the line as 330 million Shekels was higher than expected and the line cost 540 million Shekels. The 19th century route between Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem was a route with sharp turns. Although this route has a view, the bends restricted the types and speeds of trains that could be used on the railway line. Also, the location of Malha Train Station in Jerusalem was not considered ideal as it is located on the southern outskirts of the city. At the end of 2006 (to take effect on 30 December) it was decided to divide the line service into Tel Aviv-Beit-Shemesh and Beit-Shemesh-Jerusalem. With these improved conditions of the line and the reliability of the time schedule, it is now possible to organize voyages in both directions with various train types on the line. However, this significantly increased the time between Jerusalem and other destinations other than Beit-Shemesh, and the split line was reconnected in the following seasonal schedule. The rebuilding process itself has also come under criticism, as a number of historic buildings, including the original Beit-Shemesh and Battir Train Stations, and a stone bridge were destroyed during construction.

Work continued to improve the line between Na'an and Beit-Shemesh by correcting sharp bends and building bridges instead of level crossings. In February 2009, a long railway bridge was built at the level crossing between the railway and Highway 3, located near the Yesodot moscow and the former Nahal Sorek Train Station, and a sharp bend immediately after the intersection was fixed. This project could reduce the travel time to Beit Shemesh by up to 10 minutes. A railway bridge was built on the site of another level crossing a few kilometers north of Hulda. The project of arranging the part between Lod and Na'an to double line was completed in 2012 within the scope of the renovation and reconstruction of the Lod-Beersheba Line. The Tel Aviv – Lod section was completely removed from the double line in the 1990s. This part of the line is now part of the Israeli Railways main line. In addition to trains to Beit-Shemesh and Jerusalem, this part of the line also serves Ashkelon, Ben Gurion International Airport and Beersheba lines.

The original starting and ending points (terminal), the Yafa Train Station, were renovated in 2008, and the Jerusalem Train Station in 2013 to be used as a meeting center. Both stations are not connected to the railway network and no longer serve as train stations.

Railway Service to Jerusalem in the Future
In 2018, the new electrified railway line will be completed with the commissioning of the new metro station in the center of Jerusalem, known as the Binyanei HaUma Metro Station, which will provide rail service to Jerusalem. The metro station is conveniently located opposite the central bus station and adjacent to the Jerusalem Tram Line. Although it takes about 80 minutes between Tel Aviv and the south of Jerusalem on the Jaffa-Jerusalem Railway, the new railway line from Tel Aviv to the center of Jerusalem will be much faster and the two cities will be traveled in about half an hour. Trains using the line will also stop at Ben Gurion International Airport. There have also been discussions about potentially connecting the Hauma and Malha stations one day with an additional station to be built in the center of Jerusalem (possibly near Independence Park). However, given the topographically challenging and urban nature of the route, establishing such a link would be quite complex and in any case would not include the original Jerusalem Train Station, which would likely remain disconnected from the rail network.

stations 

Original stations 

Name / Location	Other (Next) Names	Service Date	Distance to Jaffa	Height
Jaffa Train Station, Jaffa / Tel Aviv	—	1892 – 1948	—	—
Lod Train Station, Lod (Lydda)	—	1892 -	191 kilometers (119 mi)	63 meters (207 ft)
Ramla Train Station, Ramla	—	1892 -	225 kilometers (140 mi)	65 meters (213 ft)
Al-Sejed Train Station, Al-Seje	—	1892 – 1915	395 kilometers (245 mi)	1.105-183 meters (3.625-600 ft)
Dayr Aban Train Station, Beit Shemesh	Artuf (1918-48), Hartuv, Beit Shemesh	1892-	503 kilometers (313 mi)	206 meters (676 ft)
Battir Train Station, Battir	—	1892 – 1948	759 kilometers (472 mi)	575 meters (1.886 ft)
Jerusalem Train Station, Jerusalem	Han Station	1892 – 1998	866 kilometers (538 mi)	747 meters (2.451 ft)

Post-added stations 

Name / Location	Service Date	Height		Notes
Tel Aviv Beit-Hadar (Customs House) Train Station, Tel Aviv	1920 – 1970	~ 10 meters (33 ft)
Tel Aviv South Train Station, Tel Aviv	1970 – 1993	~ 20 meters (66 ft)		Today it serves as the training location of the Israeli Railways.
Kefar Habad Train Station	1952 -	~ 30 meters (98 ft)
Tel Aviv North (Bnei Brak - Ramat HaHayal) Train Station	1949 - 1990s, 2000 - present	~ 10 meters (33 ft)		It's not at the line's original location in 1892.
Wadi al Surar (Nahal Sorek) Train Station		~ 100 meters (330 ft)		Today it serves as a sayding place.
Dayr ash-Shaykh (Bar Giora) Train Station		~ 400 meters (1.300 ft)		Today it serves as a sayding place.

Stations not on the original line 

The stations of Tel Aviv Central, Tel Aviv HaShalom and Tel Aviv HaHagana are the stations used on the railway line but not in the original -1892- line layout. All these stations are located between the round-trip lanes of the Ayalon Motorway.

Significance and influence
It was the largest civil engineering project in the Palestinian region at the time of the railway and is considered one of the largest completed projects to this day. [87] The railroad has greatly influenced Jerusalem's opening to modern tourism and Jerusalem's growth beyond the walls of the Old City. [86,5] Selah Merrill has revealed in Scribner's Magazine that the real significance of railway construction is not XNUMX km of railway line. However, according to Merrill, all the railroad expenses incurred by the Ottoman Empire were made to try to keep Western civilization away from it. Even before the railway was completed, the land close to the railway route was significantly valued. Despite this, the actual area around the Jerusalem Train Station did not develop rapidly, partly because flat and high areas were preferred for construction.

He supported allowing German organizations to bring more construction materials to the railway line faster in Jerusalem in the 1890s. In the early 20th century, the German Colony became an attractive destination for those seeking superior transport service. In addition, by allowing large volumes of fresh water to be transported into the city from other groundwater sources, public health in Jerusalem has greatly improved, allowing the city to expand further. “The arrival of the railroad had a profound effect on Jerusalem,” says aul Cotterell. Even more surprising, given that in the first decade of the railway line's existence, the city of Jerusalem barely produced the sufficient amount of wine, vegetables or cattle it needed during this period, the city's population nearly doubled. he wrote.

In Jaffa, by 1900, the railway contributed to the city's population growth to 40.000 [94], and this had a positive cultural impact. The railway company was also impressed by the regulation of local time, in order to standardize the railway time, the time from sunrise to sunset was counted and oriental clocks were converted accordingly. The railway company encouraged Eliezer Ben-Yehuda to write a poem about the railway, and the words Rakevet (train) and Qatar (locomotive) were derived for the Hebrew language proposed by Yehiel Michael Pines and David Yellin, respectively.

Immediately after the railway construction, plans were submitted for similar railway projects across Palestine. On November 9, 1892, just 6 weeks after the line's official opening, the engineer George Franjieh, who helped build the main line, proposed the construction of a tram line in Jerusalem that would connect Ayn Karem and Bethlehem. Three weeks later, on November 3, Franjieh presented his plan for a similar tram line, this time in Jaffa. Tram plans were never implemented because they were not considered economical. Another plan presented by Franjieh was a water support system that had never been built for Jerusalem, which had insufficient water supply for the city's growing population.