Israel Announces $14 Billion Plan To Improve Transportation Infrastructure
Israel’s Transportation Ministry announced on Tuesday a five-year plan to improve the country’s transportation infrastructure. The plan focuses on improvements to public transit and roads.
Under the plan, Israel will create a high-speed rail line between Kiryat Shmona and Eilat, Israel’s northernmost and southernmost cities. Israel’s current rail system has no station farther north than Nahariya, about 30 miles southwest of Kiryat Shmona, and no station farther south than Dimona, about 100 miles north of Eilat.
Transportation Minister Miri Regev described the plan as “an unprecedented investment in public transportation development, with an emphasis on the periphery and connection to the center, investments in Judea and Samaria designed to improve the flow of traffic and personal safety of the residents, and many other programs that are all aimed at one goal: uniting Israel.”
Besides developing public transit, the plan also aims to improve the flow of traffic and address dangerous roads.
The plan is set to cost 50 billion shekels ($14 billion), which is the largest budget Israel has ever allocated for public transportation, the ministry said.
