Transportation Minister Miri Regev on Wednesday ordered the redeployment of a new Tel Aviv area transit system to the West Bank, despite the metropolitan area's maddening daily traffic gridlocks.
The Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit (ART) — a crossover between a train, a bus and a tram capable of transporting up to 500 people — arrived at Ashdod Port last week and was slated to operate as part of the Tel Aviv light rail system on a route connecting the central cities of Lod, Ramle and Rishon Lezion.
2 View gallery
Transportation Minister Miri Regev with the ART at Ashdod Port
(Photo: Transporation Ministry)
Israel has ordered several units of the system, which is mostly used in China, for trials. ART is deemed to be a cheap and viable transportation method for the light rail project as its capacity is far greater than that of buses or trollies.
Regev's call to move the system, which will now operate in the northern West Bank, connecting Tel Aviv to the Tapuah Junction, went against the position of Transportation Ministry officials and came less than a week before the March 23 election.
Regev held a photo op with the vehicles upon their arrival at the seaport.
Yossi Dagan, the head of the Samaria Regional Council in the West Bank, said in a statement that under Regev's orders, his region was chosen as the location for the pilot to promote transportation infrastructure.
Questioned on the matter, the Transportation Ministry said that the pilot will first be launched in the West Bank, and if successful, more carriages will be purchased to operate in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area.
"The operation of a designated train from the Tapuach Junction to Tel Aviv will constitute a preliminary pilot for the operation of various routes," the ministry said.
"The choice stems from the growth in demand for mass transit systems in the area to address the approximately 15,000 students studying at Ariel [settlement] University and the growing population in the northern West Bank. It is time for a train in Judea and Samaria [the West Bank] as well."
However, sources say that ministry officials were not aware of any plan to relocate the system.
Treasury officials also said no budget was allocated for a rail line in the northern West Bank.