An Israeli advocacy group for better public transportation staged a mock wedding on Thursday at a Tel Aviv train station to protest the government's decision to keep train travel closed as a measure to prevent the spread of the coronavirus while allowing weddings and other celebrations of up to 250 people to proceed.
The event was officiated by Yossi Saidov the chairman of 15 Minutes - Public Transportation Alliance an advocacy group fighting for better public transport services, shorter waiting time, better access for enabled passengers, and more.
"We are here to encourage authorities to reopen train lines and reinstate the pulse of Israel's market economy," Saidov said. "We call on the prime minister who is always talking about the economy to show some leadership and let the trains transport 250,000 Israeli workers to their jobs each day.
The "bride" in the protest event said it made no sense to keep trains from operating since the overcrowding on buses, as a result, pose much more risk of contagion.
"We would like to see less crowding and for that, we need trains to run and take some of the load off buses and traffic," she said.
Drivers also complained they were experiencing heavy traffic on their way to Tel Aviv with some complaining they were wasting hours trying to get to work.
A lane on the major highway into the city has been closed for roadworks that were planned months ago and did not foresee trains being suspended at the same time.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev said her office was prepared to restart train operations earlier in the week with passengers pre-paying for tickets so as not to line up in stations but in light of the increase in confirmed cases of COVID-19 the government had decided to wait.
"I hope we will have news about the resumption of trains soon," she said.
Her Deputy Minister Uri Maklef said that people must get to work so they cram into busses but he added, "truth must be told, there was an overcrowding problem on public buses before the pandemic."
First published: 22:43, 06.11.20