Treasury Orders Fuel-Line Agreements to Advance Coastal Railway Expansion

The Finance Ministry’s infrastructure-coordination committee has ordered Israel Railways and two fuel-infrastructure companies to sign pipeline-relocation agreements within 30 days, advancing the Coastal Railway expansion. The decision, published on October 29, concerns national infrastructure plan 65A and disputes with EAPC and PEI over work needed to clear the railway’s route. The committee ruled that execution agreements and work must proceed while land-rights registration and outstanding financial disputes are handled separately. Israel Railways must submit the easement documents within 60 days and pursue registration within one year. It must also report registration progress to the committee every three months. Committee chairman Israel Malachi said the decision put “the benefit of citizens and public-transport passengers before us.” EAPC had objected to moving pipelines before permanent easements were registered, including rights over about one kilometre of private land. Its concern was that access and maintenance rights could lack protection if temporary expropriation expired first. The committee rejected its jurisdiction objection and accepted the railway’s warning that further postponement would disrupt the project. PEI’s unresolved issues include engineering-management and supervision payments, and responsibility for examining potentially contaminated soil when old fuel lines are abandoned. The plan was approved in December 2023 and officially published in January 2024. Israel Railways referred the unresolved disputes to the committee in June 2026. The latest ruling sets agreement and registration deadlines while allowing the remaining disputes to be considered separately; it does not announce an opening of the expanded railway.