Eastern Rail Line Opens to Passengers, Cutting Hadera-Tel Aviv Trip to 60 Minutes

Israel Railways inaugurated passenger service on the long-awaited Eastern Rail Line on Sunday, June 28, opening three new stations at Hadera East, Shomron-Tayibe and Kokhav Yair-Tira, all connecting through the upgraded Rosh HaAyin North hub. The 64-kilometer double-track electrified line bypasses the chronically congested Tel Aviv coastal corridor and is projected to expand national rail capacity by roughly 30 percent, with trains running Sunday through Thursday from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. at two per hour. Travel from Hadera East to Tel Aviv now takes about an hour, Shomron-Tayibe 46 minutes, and Tira-Kochav Yair 39 minutes. The NIS 8.5 billion ($2.9 billion) project, ceremonially inaugurated on May 19 by Prime Minister Netanyahu and Transportation Minister Miri Regev, completes a transportation backbone that knits Judea and Samaria communities into the national rail grid and serves both Jewish and Arab residents alike.