Tel Aviv Light Rail Project Underway
After decades of controversy and failed attempts, the public transit system in Tel Aviv is finally being built, reported constructiondigital.
Work has begun on Tel Aviv's extensive light rail transit system, projected to be completed by 2017 at an estimated cost of US$ 2.5 billion.
Tel Aviv is Israel's second largest city, with nearly 3.3 million residents in the larger metropolitan area. The light rail system will be the largest and most expensive private transportation project in Israel to date.
In 2006, Israel awarded a similar contract to a consortium of Israeli and foreign contractors, but the project collapsed in 2010. Israel moved to nationalize the project, guaranteeing financing and allowing workers to break ground.
The Red Line will run 23 kilometers from Petah Tikya, a northern suburb of Tel Aviv, through the downtown area and on to Bat Yam in the south. Workers have already begun work on the massive 25-meter-deep tunnels needed for much of the track route - 10 of the 22 proposed stations will be below ground.
Soft soil and other geological difficulties present some challenges for the system's designers and builders of the nearly 100 kilometer system, which will consist of four separate lines. The light rail will be combined with buses in the region's largest public transit effort to date.
Work has begun on Tel Aviv's extensive light rail transit system, projected to be completed by 2017 at an estimated cost of US$ 2.5 billion.
Tel Aviv is Israel's second largest city, with nearly 3.3 million residents in the larger metropolitan area. The light rail system will be the largest and most expensive private transportation project in Israel to date.
In 2006, Israel awarded a similar contract to a consortium of Israeli and foreign contractors, but the project collapsed in 2010. Israel moved to nationalize the project, guaranteeing financing and allowing workers to break ground.
The Red Line will run 23 kilometers from Petah Tikya, a northern suburb of Tel Aviv, through the downtown area and on to Bat Yam in the south. Workers have already begun work on the massive 25-meter-deep tunnels needed for much of the track route - 10 of the 22 proposed stations will be below ground.
Soft soil and other geological difficulties present some challenges for the system's designers and builders of the nearly 100 kilometer system, which will consist of four separate lines. The light rail will be combined with buses in the region's largest public transit effort to date.
